In the Cards
by DoraMouse
Summary: Duel Monsters is a great game - but now the monsters have been accidentally endangered. And the quest to figure out what's going on is going to require more depth from the Domino City cast than they typically get credit for. In Progress.
1. Curiosity killed the

_In the Cards_

by DoraMouse

**Disclaimer:** I'm only gonna say this once. My name is not Kazuki Takahashi. Therefore, I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh. Also, on a related note, I do not own nor even have access to cable or satellite television. Which means that I've never seen the anime. Not a single episode. Thus my entire understanding of this fandom comes from reading the manga and playing the card game. Just something to keep in mind. However I _do_ own the character Bess - whom I invented for this fic - but you don't have to worry about her too much since she'll probably only appear in the first and last chapters. In fact, you should worry more about her toaster.

**Name Notes:** I'll be using the manga versions of the characters names just because I'm more comfortable with those. For those of you who don't know: Yugi is still Yugi Mutou. Kaiba - even though his first name is Seto - still goes by Kaiba. Tea Gardener is Anzu Mazaki. Joey Wheeler is Jonouchi Katsuya. Tristan Taylor is Honda Hiroto. Ryo Bakura generally just goes by Bakura. Yugis Mother and the members of Bakuras fanclub at school remain nameless in the manga. Oh and last but not least, Yami is The Pharaoh. Because in all the manga that I?ve read so far... They never call him Yami. They call him 'the other Yugi' or 'the Pharaoh' and that's only _after_ they become aware of him.

* * *

**Part 1: Curiosity killed the...**

**Somewhere in America, Three Years Ago**

What madness was this?

A young woman stood on the sidewalk, clutching her purchase and trying to rationalize her decision. It wasn't such a bad thing - to buy a pack of monster cards. That's what she told herself. And the starter deck had been a fair price, considering how expensive the expansion packs were.

Monster cards. Two weeks ago, this woman hadn't known more than the name of the game. Now... Well. She still didn't know much about it. Not really. Not yet. But she was on the right track, she would know soon. The starter deck came with a rule book and a game mat and...

Insane. It was just insane. That's what half of her brain was thinking. She was almost twenty-seven years old! She had a job! She had ambitions. She had responsibilities. Chores to do and bills to pay and people who relied on her. What a waste of money - these monster cards. How immature. She should have just saved the money. She could have at least bought something useful and sensible. Food or clothing or a book or... _Augh._

The guilt reeled through her mind. The woman couldn't help it. This reflex was a mark of how she had been raised. Her parents had been kind and loving but they had never held much tolerance for what they deemed nonsense. Even now... Despite the fact that the woman lived on her own, she couldn't shake the feeling of disapproval. Her parents didn't need to scold her anymore. Their strict habits and gentle warnings had remained with her. The woman scolded herself.

Because it _was_ insane, on some level. To buy these overpriced cards, just on a whim - it was silly. When would she ever have time to play this game? Her days were filled with work and study. And even if she found the time to play... Then where would she find an opponent? Nobody that she knew of - and certainly no one her age - played this game. The monster cards were most popular among the younger school children, especially the boys. She couldn't just approach... It would be so embarrassing. Too embarrassing. The kids would probably be suspicious of her - children seemed naturally suspicious of adults. And if the kids played against her at all, they'd probably beat her. And worse, they'd make fun of her. She was certain of it. People were always making fun of her.

And she couldn't just take some time off from her job to go enter a tournament either. She'd read about a tournament being held in a nearby town. But that didn't seem like a good place for a beginner. And she was definitely a beginner.

This woman... Her name was not complicated nor hard to pronounce. Yet these days pretty much everyone called her by her nickname: Bess. She was of average height with a healthy but modest figure. Her eyes were dark. Her skin was tainted a ruddy peach color. Her hair - with its stubborn tendency to get curly at the edges - was an indecisive blur of blonde, orange and brown that had to be tied back into a ponytail to prevent it from frizzing out in every direction. She wore casual, comfortable clothes. Faded jeans, a long-sleeved shirt, a baseball cap, loose socks and muddy tennis shoes. She could have almost been passed off as a boy.

Bess hesitated, for a moment, and turned back to look at the store where she had bought her starter deck. She thought about marching back inside, going to the customer service desk and returning the cards - demanding a refund. But... She had lied. Well. Not exactly. The cashier had automatically assumed that the cards were a gift for someone else. And Bess had not corrected the assumption. Because what sane young woman would be buying a pack of monster cards for herself? None. Bess sighed and started walking. She couldn't return the cards now. She didn't want to have to explain or admit to anyone that she had not bought the cards for some younger brother or nephew... That the cards were actually her own. And that even though she would probably never have time to play... Even though she would probably never find an opponent... The game intrigued her.

People had always thought of her as weird. That didn't bother Bess. Not much. Not anymore. She'd gotten accustomed to that. It was her own mind that she had to level with. That's why she had gotten the cards. For a distraction. Thinking about monsters and strategies - it was easier, sometimes, than thinking about her real life.

Her real life wasn't too bad. Bess was in good health. She had a nice apartment to live in. She had a job - not the precise job that she wanted and not the sort of job that, as a child, she would have ever imagined herself doing - but the hours were okay and the pay was decent. Her parents and various other relations were still alive, most of them were in good health as well and Bess was on good enough terms with her family. She called and wrote letters and even visited the relatives, from time to time.

And yet... Deep down... She was restless. Bess was grateful for what she had, truly. But... Like most humans, she wanted a little more from life. She wanted to do a little better. She just... Wasn't sure where to start or how to start. And so, instead... The monster cards would be her creative outlet. Something to get her mind off these vague ambitions that haunted her. For a while, at least.

Twice, as she walked home, she caught glimpses of duels in progress. The children standing on either side, shouting challenges and orders. The holographic monsters arranged neatly around them. What a thrill it must be, to play the game. What fun...

For no reason at all, Bess struck a pose. Brandishing her arm as if it had one of those things - Bess didn't even know the proper name for the device - attached to it. Her other hand pretending to hold an imaginary set of cards. She smirked confidently at a non-existent opponent. And then she noticed her reflection - she looked utterly ridiculous - in the window of the building she was walking past. And she saw a person inside the building gawking at her, as if she were from a different planet. And she became aware of the expressions on the faces of the people around her...

"Miss?" The owner of a newspaper stand on the sidewalk raised an eyebrow at her. "You okay? Ya need a doctor or something?"

Inwardly, Bess sighed as she dropped the pose and resumed walking. "No." She managed to keep her voice calm, reasonable. Not the slightest hint of embarrassment. "I'm all right. Thank you."

_No, you're not._ Thought the cynical and sarcastic part of her brain. But the rest of her wasn't paying attention. The rest of her had refocused on the duel in the distance, where the monsters roared and lunged at each other with blazing attacks.

The monsters... Were amazing. All the guilt and regret that she'd tormented herself with for buying the starter deck vanished. The deck was worth every last drop of her hard-earned cash. Bess knew that now, without a doubt. She felt it in her heart.

What she did not know, at that precise moment, was how much the cards would change her life. And, in a way, vice versa.

* * *

**Two and a Half Years Ago**

"Relax." Bess spoke in her most soothing voice, for her own comfort as much for the sake of the creature that now stood before her. "Just relax..."

The creature, a heavily armored warrior of elfin descent, hefted its sword but took a nervous step backwards. He glanced from side to side, confused. Looking for an opponent, searching for other monsters. But there were none.

Bess had never found the time - nor the courage - for a duel. But she had kept the starter deck, the monster cards. She had even gotten herself one of the arm-thingies, as she still affectionately called the duelist disk. And for a while, that had been enough - to just have these things. Eventually though, curiosity had gotten the better of her.

A strange idea. A bit of patience. A few manuals that outlined the finer points of electrical wiring and many hours of fiddling with wires later... The project was done. The goal was accomplished, a success. For here stood the monster that Bess had summoned. Without an opponent, without a duel - she had successfully summoned a single monster into her own home.

Of course, she knew there were risks. But there would also be answers.

Bess watched. What would the monster do now? With no game in progress... Would he vanish? Would he stay? Would the warrior attack? Were the monsters capable of more than just attacking and defending all the time? Could the elf speak? In the handful of duels that Bess had seen on television in the last six months, the monsters had only roared or laughed or screamed. And yet... The monsters always seemed to understand the orders they were given. So maybe the monsters could learn other commands as well?

Abruptly the mental image of this poor confused elfin warrior wearing a frilly apron and doing the dishes invaded her mind. Bess had to bite down on the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing aloud. The mental image did not immediately go away. And other random daydreams followed it. Oh how weird and wonderful and cool it might be, to ride a dragon to work instead of taking the bus. And hey - maybe she could get one of the weak but intelligent spellcasters to help her with the paperwork that...

Bess snapped out of her thoughts. The elfin warrior was staring at her as if she were the single most bizarre object in existence. Oh cripes, what if he was capable of mind reading?

"Uhm..." Bess smiled, one hand behind her head in a gesture of mild embarrassment. "Hi." She fumbled for more to say and eventually found the words. "My name is... Well. People call me Bess." Again the pause and hesitant smile. Why were introductions always so awkward? "Er. So... Uhm. Do you have a name? Or should I just call you..." Bess glanced down at the card in her arm-thingie. "Should I just call you Celtic Guardian?"

* * *

**Slightly Less Than Two Years Ago**

Easy. That's what it had been - easy. Very easy. Ridiculously easy. Insanely easy. How easy - how triumphant - to quit her job. To sell her apartment. To pack and move to a different city and then give the first demonstration. How amazingly simple. It was far more than Bess could have ever dreamt, more than she could have fathomed or predicted. All these changes, so fast. She could hardly believe how easy it had been.

But what choice did she have? Her curiosity had gotten the better of her. Her mind refused to let the subject drop. She had summoned monsters to her home on several occasions now. She wanted to understand the monsters, she wanted to befriend them. So she had talked and asked questions. She had offered food and drink. She had given tours of her apartment - watching as the monsters poked around in confusion.

The television had frightened most of the monsters, especially the humanoid ones. Same for the radio. A fiend had stolen her toaster. A nervous little dragon had destroyed a full-length mirror plus several nearby pieces of furniture. The refrigerator had either terrified or amazed most of the creatures and the concept of closets had fascinated them.

Nobody had been more fascinated than Bess. Watching, speaking, listening... Despite all that she had learned about the monsters, many questions remained in her mind. Why hadn't any of the creatures spoken to her? Did the monsters not understand her language - or did they simply not have the ability to speak it? Did the monsters have their own languages? And why did the creatures never eat or drink or even seem to get tired? Where did these monsters get their energy from? Heck, for that matter - where did the monsters come from? What was their world like? What happened, in their world, when a monster was summoned to a duel? What happened when a duel ended?

Questions like this had been ignored at first. Because at first, Bess had believed that the monsters were just holographs. Just light effects. That's what the rule book said and that's what the arm-thingie was for - generating the images. And it made sense. If the monsters were just pictures created by a computer program then, yes, that would explain a lot. A holograph wouldn't need to eat or sleep or speak. And a holograph would be safe to use in a card game played by children. Because a holograph could attack without doing any actual damage to the real world.

But the more that Bess had watched, the more she'd seen the evidence... So now, she was trying to convince others.

A group of scientists stood clustered behind her. The silence was expectant. A few of these scientists quietly respected Bess for what she had accomplished on her own. Others in the group disliked her for the same reason. How could this simple working class girl - this scruffy woman who didn't even have a college degree - how could _she_ have stumbled across such an important discovery?

Yet the vast majority of the scientists in the group didn't care about Bess. What mattered to them was the experiment. And everyone had their doubts about that. Everyone except Bess.

She raised her arm, the arm-thingie fanning out before her. It was a shiny v-shaped contraption with orange and white decoration. The device had its own version of all the slots that could be found on a plain paper game mat. There was a place to stow the deck of cards, a slot for the optional fusion deck and another slot for the graveyard. Two rows of five slots each - the top row had wide square slots for monsters, the bottom row had narrow rectangular slots for spell and trap cards - ran along the length of her arm.

Without this device a duelist would have to shuffle their own deck, do their own damage calculations and keep track of their own lifepoints. None of which was hard. But allowing people to shuffle and keep their own numbers made cheating much easier. So the arm-thingies were generally preferred by all those who played the game seriously. In an effort to make the game fair and the rules universally enforced, the makers of the card game had gone so far as to add a pair of holograph engines in order to promote the device. No more boring duels with just the cards on a table. Now the game was 3D. And portable.

The concept had caught on practically overnight.

Arcades and gaming stadiums all over the world still hosted the older - more formal - dueling arenas where field effects were based on the nearby geography and holographic monsters came standard. However with a dueling disk, the game could be played anywhere. Literally. The boundaries were gone. If the players wanted to start a duel in the middle of a street and then continue the duel while running through a park or something - they could. In fact there were a few new clubs sprouting up in America... 'Extreme Duelists', that's what the most of these clubs called themselves. And the members were frequently featured in the daily news reports - but featured even more frequently in the hospital.

_Eh._ Bess shook her head and refocused. If other people wanted to combine playing cards with bungee jumping, that was _their_ problem. She had work to do.

Bess took a card from her deck. It was a monster card. All the cards in her deck were monster cards. She was only interested in the monsters. Half holding her breath, she placed the card in the correct slot. The device on her arm clicked and whirred. The monster materialized. Defense position.

The small crowd behind her murmured. These people weren't just scientists. Some of them were also parents - their children played this card game. Others considered the game a sport, they had seen the professional duels broadcast on tv. So they had seen monsters summoned before. They weren't impressed. Not yet.

_Now._ Bess bolted over to the monster. This was her proof. No matter how many times she did this demonstration... This was the part that stuck with people.

"HI!" Bess smiled and glomped - hugged - the poor confused monster. She ruffled its fuzz in an affectionate way, planted her left leg by the creatures heel and then shoved it backwards.

The monster fell flat on its back with a surprised thud. Before it could recover - and perhaps attack - Bess removed the card from play. The monster vanished.

"I'm not a genius." Bess declared as she walked back towards the scientists. This was not the first time she had given her demonstration, so the words came to her easily now. "So tell me, please. Could I have hugged a holograph? Could I have tripped a holograph? If it was just a holograph... Just a trick of light and computer code... Wouldn't I have run right through it?"

She paused a moment, gave the words a chance to sink in before she continued. "That's where my theory comes from. I believe that these monsters, maybe they are not just holographs. I'd like to say that they are real - but I don't know for sure. What are these creatures? Where do they come from? How did they get tangled up in a card game that children play?" Bess shrugged, almost dramatically. "I don't know." She emphasized. "But I'd like to find out. Can you help me?"

Bess waited. This was her life now, this was her work. If the scientists accepted her offer, her challenge, then she could move forward and seek answers. If they rejected her proposal...

Well. It wouldn't be the first time. Bess knew that the scientists were curious. But they had to think of their of their jobs, their employers. How professional would it sound - researching a card game? How could their company profit or benefit from such research? Because if there was no reward for the corporation, there would be no support from the corporation. Was it even legal to conduct research on the monsters? What if the company that had made the monster card game tried to file a lawsuit against them? What if...

A scientist stepped forward. "Tell us what the next experiment would involve." He said warily, "Then we'll decide."

* * *

**Now**

Slightly less than two years ago, Bess had taken her ideas for research to the professional level. She had convinced a group of scientists to put tracking devices on monsters that were still - in most parts of the world - considered fictional. At first, the experiment had failed. The monsters had quickly figured out how to tear the tracking devices off. And even after the scientists had modified the tracking devices in ways that made them much harder to remove, the experiment had failed. Because the computers had registered nothing but errors. How did you track something, once it was no longer on the planet? How did you track something when it was going to a place that, as far as the scientists knew, no human had ever been to before?

They had been on the brink of just giving up. And then... Almost by accident... The computer had registered the presence of a monster. And then, later, they had detected the same monster again. In a different location. And then - for a fraction of an instant before the computer had crashed - the monster had been detected yet again. In three separate locations at once.

Which had lead to the first set of theories.

_There are more cards than monsters._ Bess, age thirty, was still dazzled by the thought. The monsters in her starter deck... She had, for some reason, automatically thought of them as being _hers_. But if the scientists were right... Then the very same exact monsters that she could summon with her cards... Got summoned to duels all over the world by all sorts of people, each of whom probably also thought of the monsters as belonging to them. Wherever a monster went when a duel ended - it didn't get to stay in that realm for very long. Instead it would be summoned, again, to a different duel in a different place on Earth.

How did a monster manage to be in three different duels at once?

Energy. That's what the scientists called it. They didn't use words like 'soul' or 'ghost' - although that's more or less what the concept boiled down to. The monsters were not just holographs. The monsters were ghosts. Summoning a monster caused the creatures spirit to appear. The common cards... Because there were more cards than monsters... The common monsters, they tended to be weak since the creatures had to split their energy and attention between all the different games that they were called into. A truly rare card... A rare monster... Was not as likely to be summoned to more than one or two games at a time. So a rare monster would have a stronger presence.

_Ghosts..._

Logical enough. If the monsters were ghosts... Well. That explained why the creatures apparently didn't need to eat or drink or sleep. It explained how the monsters could attack each other without causing damage to the real world. And perhaps these ghosts just didn't have the ability - or desire - to speak. Perhaps if a monster was in so many different places at once, it _couldn't_ speak. Yes. The theory made perfect sense. Except...

Bess thought about the demonstration that she'd given. She had run up to, hugged and then tripped a monster. _"Could I have hugged a holograph?"_ She had asked the scientists almost two years ago. _"Could I have tripped a holograph? If it was just a holograph... Just a trick of light and computer code... Wouldn't I have run right through it?"_

And so now, Bess couldn't help but wonder... If the monsters were just ghosts... Could she have hugged a ghost? Could she have tripped a ghost?

What if there was still more to the monsters? Were the poor creatures unconscious somewhere, with their physical bodies asleep or in a coma while their spirits got called to duels? Did the monsters ever wake up in their own realm? Would the monsters remember their battles at all? Did the monsters KNOW that the duels were real? Or did the creatures wake up and think that the whole experience had been nothing more than a dream? And if the monsters served so many people... Then did the monsters have any regard for - any special feelings toward or vivid memories of - specific duelists?

Bess took a card from her deck and summoned a monster. And she wondered, not for the first time since the theories had been explained to her, if the creature even recognized her. And how much of the monsters soul was here? How much of its energy was somewhere else? And...

"I am so sorry." Bess reached out tentatively. A hooked beak snapped at her fingertips. She pulled back but only for a moment. The creature growled weakly, narrowing its eyes. Bess sat down next to the monster and gently stroked its feathered neck. "So so sorry."

Whether or not the monsters even existed on the physical level... Bess had summoned their souls. So the tracking devices... Were now on - or rather, inside of - these creatures souls. Which was causing the monsters to become ill.

Awful was an understatement. Bess had never intended to cause the monsters any pain. She had tried, several times now, to end the experiments. Most of her questions had been answered. Her curiosity had been sated. She had tried to get the scientists to agree with her. Had asked repeatedly - daily - for nearly a year now. Please, take the tracking devices off. Please, before it gets worse.

But the scientists worked for a company. And the company had its own goals. The company wanted to continue the research, wanted to learn how the monsters got from one place to the next so quickly. Wanted to use that knowledge to build a machine that would let people teleport. To make a long story short - the company wanted to get rich.

Meanwhile the creatures were getting steadily weaker. Somehow, the tracking devices had caused their souls to be infected. And if the scientists were right... If there were far more cards than monsters... Then what would happen, if these monsters died? Could ghosts die? Would the monsters just run out of energy and stop existing completely? Would the creatures go extinct?

Bess shuddered. This was all her fault. She wanted to save the monsters but... She didn't know what she could do. How could she remove a tracking device from a creatures soul? What if...

Well. Actually. She DID have an idea about what she could do. She just wasn't sure if her idea would work. Because she had modified her arm-thingie - her duelist disk - once already. The device could now summon a monster outside of a duel. But what if... What if she modified the disk again? What if she attempted to summon the entire monster - body _and_ soul? Was it worth the risk? Would the monsters be able to recover? Or would the shock of being physically summoned to Earth harm - perhaps even kill - the creatures?

Bess didn't know. She studied the creature that she sat beside - it was a minor griffin of some sort, with drooping wings and glazed eyes - and frowned. Her idea was risky. She didn't want to make things worse. But if she did nothing... If she didn't at least _try_ to save these creatures... Then their condition _would_ get worse. That seemed guaranteed. Risky as her idea was... Bess knew that she had to give it a chance.

* * *


	2. With Friends Like These

_In the Cards_

by DoraMouse

* * *

**Part 2: With Friends Like These...**

**Domino City, Japan**

"Ha!" Anzu raised her voice in triumph. "I won!" Her hand, extended out in front of her, was clenched into a fist but her voice was cheerful and her expression happy. "Rock beats scissors!"

Jonouchi was tempted to make a snide comment. He didn't. Anzu might look harmless but Jonouchi knew better. Anzu was not someone that he wanted to tick off. In spite of all his fighting experience, Anzu was perfectly capable of mauling him. And her position as the president of their class made it worse. Because Anzu could do more than just maul him, she also had access to the student records in the school office. If she added or removed anything from the folder where the school kept his profile... The consequences could be quite serious.

"Eh." Jonouchi settled for muttering. This was just Anzu. A friend. Jonouchi was fairly sure that Anzu wouldn't do more than kick or slap him when he got out of line, not anymore. And what had she won? A game of rock-paper-scissors. Nothing major. "Don't mean a thing." He finally insisted, reaching for his deck. "You're goin' down."

"And you're going first." Anzu countered, shuffling through her own deck. "Ready?"

Ah, so she _was_ learning. In the past, Anzu had always wanted to go first because going first had meant attacking first. But the rules of the game had changed since then. The governing authorities of the game had decided that it wasn't fair to attack an opponent who hadn't even been given a chance to draw a single card. So now the player who went first couldn't attack right away. It was the second player who had the first opportunity to strike.

"Course I'm ready." Jonouchi grumbled.

The game wasn't as much fun anymore, not now that he'd played for life and death stakes. Jonouchi couldn't help but feel tense and nervous. It had been so long since they'd had a chance to play just for the heck of it. No risk of a shadow game or other such danger.

Jonouchi glanced sideways, past his cards - to the bench in the schoolyard where two more of his friends sat and watched the unfolding duel. He couldn't fault Yugi for sitting this one out. He really couldn't. But Anzu had obviously been hoping for a match against Yugi. And Yugis deck had to be close to invincible. And so if Anzu was even halfway prepared to deal with that... It didn't matter much that Anzu was a friend, it didn't matter that she was tough... Jonouchi did not like the idea of losing to girl.

Maybe she was bluffing. Maybe Anzu didn't have a plan. Maybe she had honestly just wanted an excuse to play the game the way they had three years ago, before all their adventures together. Before all the danger. Maybe Anzu had planned to lose to Yugi. Maybe she had hoped to... _Wait._ Jonouchi squinted. He'd already drawn his hand but Anzu was still shuffling her cards. And not just shuffling but... Her sidedeck. She was changing the cards in her deck! What in the world was she up to?

Ah. So maybe she HAD planned to lose to Yugi. But against Jonouchi... _Damn._ This could get messy. He had the feeling that Anzu wasn't going to go down without a solid fight.

"There." Anzu finished editing her deck and put her sidedeck away. She was smiling far too much. Something amused her. "Good. Now then. Duel Start?"

Honda yelled an encouragement that made Anzu grin and Jonouchi blink. _Urk... Why that little..._ Jonouchi glared at Honda. Yugi either couldn't or just plain didn't really grasp how much the situation embarrassed Jonouchi. But Honda did. And Honda was enjoying this. If Anzu won this duel... If Jonouchi lost to a girl... Then Honda would never ever let him forget it.

"Fine!" Jonouchi heard himself shouting towards the bench. "But you gotta take the winner!" Honda began to protest. While a strong enough player, Honda wasn't quite at the same level as the rest of them. Against Jonouchi, defeat was almost guaranteed. Against Anzu... Well. It could be interesting. At least if she defeated both of them, Honda would have to keep his mouth shut for a while. Jonouchi narrowed his eyes and refocused on his cards. "Let's get this show on the road."

Anzu had learned - from the numerous life and death battles as well as from practice duels against both Yugi and his grandfather - to value the trick of messing with her opponents deck. Thus Jonouchi knew that at some point, in some way, Anzu would play something that would probably force him to discard his entire hand. Plus she was increasingly in the habit of using cards that let her either look at or destroy anything that her opponent set, to save for later. So... He had to be careful. No point in saving too much for later. Better to use what he could now.

Jonouchi opened the game with a spell card that increased his lifepoints. He placed a trap and hoped for the chance to activate it soon, before Anzu tried to mess with it. He selected a monster and summoned it to the field.

Anzu gasped. Honda gasped. Yugi bolted upright, concern evident in his features.

"What the heck?" Jonouchi felt his eyes widen in disbelief. Because the monster... He looked from the picture on the card to the creature that had been summoned. And knew, without knowing how, that something was very wrong.

"I think..." Yugi was at his side in an instant. "I think it's _sick_."

The creature _did_ look sick. The monster had its eyes closed and its head bowed. It was shaking visibly and shedding fur at an alarming rate. Each time that the creature tried to stand, it stumbled and ended up either on its knees or laying on its side.

"How can it be sick?" Jonouchi didn't doubt his friend - Yugi was pretty much always right about these sorts of things - but he just didn't understand how this was possible. He'd never summoned an unhealthy monster before. What could make a monster sick? And why, of all the duelists in the world, had this happened to him?

Anzu had joined them. "It looks frightened. Afraid of us." She observed quietly. "I don't like this."

"Neither do I." Yugi nodded. A flash of the ancient spirit trapped inside him was visible for a moment in his expression. "And neither does He." Yugi added, referring to his other self.

"Count me in on that." Honda was beside them now. He leaned in and nudged Jonouchi on the elbow. "Try summoning something else."

Jonouchi frowned but complied. He placed another card on the field and waited to see what would happen.

Nothing.

"It's not his turn." Yugi reasoned.

"Oh. Hangon." Anzu fumbled with her cards then summoned a monster.

Jonouchi screamed. He couldn't help it. True - the groups many adventures had improved his bravery - but he had never liked zombies. They were just so creepy. He flung an accusing stare at Anzu. "You did that on purpose!"

"Uhm..." Anzu tried not to look guilty and failed.

While Jonouchi continued to berate Anzu for deliberately designing a deck that would humiliate him, Honda stepped forward. "Kind of hard to tell if this one is sick." He sweatdropped. The monster was a drooling mess of bandages and bones but that seemed normal enough, for a zombie.

"Uhm. Yea." Yugi agreed. In the background Anzu was now returning some of Jonouchis insults. Before his friends could resort to strangling each other, Yugi caught their attention. "Summon another monster. Both of you. Now." A hint of the Pharaohs authority had crept into his tone. It slipped. "Please." Yugi finished. As an afterthought, he added. "And please no more zombies."

Jonouchi flashed a victorious smirk at that. Anzu rolled her eyes. But they both followed orders. Jonouchi summoned out a humanoid lizard. Anzu summoned a creature that resembled a pig with wings.

Stunned silence.

Jonouchi broke it first, cursing softly. What the heck was going on here? How in the world...?

"It's an epidemic." Honda murmured, tensing. "They're all sick."

By now, of course, Yugi had dropped to his knees and pulled off his backpack and was getting his own deck out. He strapped the duelist disk to his arm with a practiced speed and frowned at the sight in front of them. "This duel is over. Call it a draw. Take your monsters back." Yugis polite voice was gone, the Pharaoh was giving orders again.

Anzu and Jonouchi exchanged a look. Neither of them wanted a draw. They would have a grudge rematch later, to settle things. If possible. In the meantime... Yugi was a good friend, they trusted his advice. And the Pharaoh spirit inside of Yugi had saved them so frequently during the past three years... They had to respect his commands. So the monsters were taken back. The duel was ended.

Jonouchi flicked an anxious glance at what he had come to think of as the Pharaohs face. Because while it was still Yugis physical body... The Pharaoh had a different style. It wasn't just the harsh voice and the slant of the eyes and the variation in the hair and the way he carried himself. It was age. Time. Yugi was a simple teenager. But the spirit of the Pharaoh... Well. The Pharaoh had apparently died while he was a teenager and so his spirit form still resembled someone that was close to their age. But the Pharaoh had died over three thousand years ago. So when the Pharaoh was in charge... Yugi seemed a lot older. More mature. Less naive. Confident. Dangerous.

In fact, it was kind of scary to contemplate. Jonouchi liked the naive version of Yugi better. It was easier to trust just plain Yugi. The Pharaoh... Was okay. But Jonouchi remained, in a tiny corner of his own mind, skeptical. Because the Pharaoh had already outlived so many other people. How could they ever really know, for sure, what kind of value the Pharaoh placed on life? Yes, he'd always saved them - so far. But what if, one day... What if the Pharaoh outlived all of them, as well?

"Who will you challenge, Yugi?" Anzu inquired. But her gaze had already settled on Honda, who suddenly looked very uncomfortable. The idea of challenging the current world champion - even if it was just to a friendly duel in the schoolyard - obviously didn't appeal to Honda at all.

_Ha. Serves 'em right._ Jonouchi grinned.

"Ah... I left my deck at home?" Honda said lamely. "Or maybe in my locker. Or -" While Honda didn't typically back down from situations that challenged him, there was more or less no such thing as losing gracefully against Yugi. And it was just a whole lot easier to stay friends with someone who could - but didn't - trounce you. So avoiding the challenge... Jonouchi knew that Honda was making excuses more to be polite than because of any fear. Although having a certain amount of fear around Yugi was probably healthy.

The Pharaoh was clearly not amused.

"Your deck is right there." Anzu pointed at Hondas duffle bag. Honda scowled at her. Anzu didn't flinch. "It makes sense." She said flatly. We already know that the monsters in Jonouchis deck are sick."

"Hey! Your monsters were sick too!" Jonouchi reminded her.

Anzu ignored him, continuing on. "So now we need to check Yugis deck and yours too, Honda. Aren't you worried that your monsters might be sick?"

Honda reluctantly lifted his deck. "All right." He couldn't meet the Pharaohs gaze. "But this isn't a real duel, okay? And you should go first."

The Pharaoh nodded. He didn't say anything, which was not a good sign. Because the Pharaoh was capable of being friendly, even talkative - but not when he was serious. And never when he was upset.

Jonouchi watched. He'd never seen a duel that moved so fast. Of course, Honda and the Pharaoh were just taking turns to summon monsters. No spell or trap cards. No attacks. The monsters were the main concern here. And so far...

"It _is_ an epidemic." Anzu whispered. Because every single one of the monsters were sick. Hondas warriors stood dazed, as if about to faint or vomit, on one side of the field. And on the other side...

The Pharaohs voice wavered, hints of Yugi coming through. He was careful not to mention the word 'graveyard' when he announced his intent to tribute both of his monsters for a special summon. The tributed monsters faded from the field and were swiftly replaced by a familiar dark wizard.

Much to the groups collective surprise - and relief - the Dark Magician was not sick. He stood tall and confident, enveloped in a protective magical aura. So perhaps, then, there was hope for some of the other high-level monsters. And perhaps there was a cure for the lower-level monsters. And perhaps...

Without a sound - because the Dark Magician tended to be silent - and without any warning, the wizard obliterated all three of Hondas monsters. All of them. At once. Poof. Gone. Nobody had told the Dark Magician to attack. And it was against the rules, in most situations, for the Dark Magician to have multiple targets. And now... As the group watched in utter bewilderment... The wizard was advancing on Honda.

The Pharaoh - or was it Yugi in control? - ripped the card off the field, out of play. The Dark Magician turned to glare at them as he faded. The duel ended.

Jonouchi rushed to Hondas side and waved a hand over his friends face, doing his best to hide how much recent events had disturbed him. "Yo! Honda! You okay?"

"He woulda killed me..." Honda stated, eyes as wide as dinner plates while he continued to stare at the spot where the Dark Magician had last stood.

Anzu arrived and they pulled Honda to his feet - he had been knocked to the ground by the attack that had defeated all of his monsters. "It'll be all right." Anzu said, throwing a hopeful look in Yugis direction. She was trying to sound optimistic and comforting but she wasn't doing very well. "It _will_ be all right, won't it?"

The Pharaoh seemed to retreat inward. He closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them, Yugi had returned. "I'm not sure, Anzu." Yugi frowned at the card in his hand - the Dark Magician - and then carefully returned the card to his deck. "I hope so."

* * *

Yugi wasn't sure how to feel anymore. In truth... Well. The truth wasn't very nice. But ever since he'd solved the Millennium Puzzle, ever since he'd unlocked the Pharaohs spirit... It was just... Difficult, sometimes. Yugi felt as if his own identity had sort of slipped away from him. Who was he? Just a teenager that had overprotective friends and strange adventures and the ghost of an ancient Pharaoh with selective amnesia haunting his consciousness.

Sometimes, Yugi felt as if he were the one with amnesia. He and the Pharaoh had learned to share consciousness these days - but that hadn't always been the case. At first, when the Pharaoh had awakened... Yugi couldn't remember. And for those first few months... Every time the Pharaoh had taken over... There was a gap in Yugis memory. Yugi still didn't know - didn't really want to know - how the Pharaoh had defeated all the various bullies that had threatened him. And he still felt kind of strange, for taking the credit whenever the Pharaoh saved a persons life or won a duel. People tended to assume that Yugi was the hero. And he wasn't. Or at least, he didn't really feel like one.

Yugi wasn't the type of person who could hold grudges. Thus he wasn't upset with the Pharaoh for invading his mind and making his life so complicated. He couldn't even begin to think of being upset with the Pharaoh. Yugi cherished his supernatural friend. He had nothing but respect and admiration for the spirit. The Pharaoh had been through so much. The Pharaoh was so brave and wise and...

Sometimes, Yugi wondered if he was just in the way. If he was holding his friends - all of them - back. Because they worried about him so much. Was it healthy, to worry so much? Was he just a burden to these people? They were all so protective of him. Everyone. His grandfather and the Pharaoh and Anzu and Jonouchi and even Honda. And it was nice to have such good friends... Amazing, to have so _many_ good friends. But...

A drop of sorrow weighed heavily in Yugis heart. He couldn't really remember what his life had been like, before he'd solved the Millennium Puzzle. And every idea and emotion that stirred within him... The automatic internal trust had faded. He hesitated these days, feeling more and more detached. Wondering if any of the thoughts in his brain were truly his own. What if the thoughts belonged to the Pharaoh? What if...

Yugi tried to shake the sadness. But he couldn't help feel as if he were fading a bit. Because these days... Yugi didn't really know if he felt or thought much of anything. Certainly not anything important. And what if his life had always been this way? Maybe he'd always been sort of average and invisible. The type of person that got shoved aside and overlooked and forgotten. Maybe he hadn't achieved anything memorable. Maybe that's why he couldn't remember what his life had been like before.

Maybe it would be better for everyone, if the Pharaoh just flat out replaced him.

This wasn't the truth. But deep down, Yugi had started to believe it. And he wanted to change things too - wanted to do something. But how could he improve his self-esteem, when there were so many protective people around? His friends - and the Pharaoh, especially - refused to let Yugi take any risks. He wasn't able to learn from mistakes and grow confident because... Well. He hadn't been allowed to make that many mistakes. On the few occasions that Yugi HAD made a mistake, in recent years... The Pharaoh had taken over. So the mistakes had been corrected or erased or recovered from. But... Just _once_... Yugi wished for the opportunity to solve a problem on his own. Completely and utterly on his own. Maybe then his friends wouldn't worry so much for him. Maybe then he would be a better friend to have.

" - and one child admission?"

Embarrassed, Yugi returned his attention to the world around him. _Never going to make it as a hero at this rate..._ He sighed and kicked at the ground, scowling in the direction of the lobby while Anzu and Honda took turns politely explaining to the employee that Yugi was, in fact, a high school student. As if his life wasn't strange enough... On top of everything else, why did he have to be abnormally short?

"I don't believe it." The employee was more stubborn than most. "He doesn't look more than eight years old! Are you trying to say that he's a genius and skipped ahead in school?"

"Next to you, anyone's a genius!" Impatient and grouchy, Jonouchi had edged into the debate. "He's just short for his age, aw'right? Ya got a problem with that?"

"Yes." The employee sniffed, reaching for a telephone. "I'm calling the police. For all I know, you may have kidnapped that poor boy and..."

"Hey." Yugi hated to confront people but this was getting ridiculous. "Listen. There's no reason to call the police. I'm sixteen years old and these are my friends. If you still want to charge the childs admission price for me - fine. It'll save us some money. But I am not a child."

_So why does everyone treat me like one?_

The employee eventually relented and even grumbled an apology. Anzu took the tickets and the group entered the arcade. On a regular day, the arcade was a good place to just hang out and have fun. Jonouchi was a champion of the fighting games. Honda was undefeated on the racing simulations. Anzu enjoyed the dance mats. And Yugi... Could beat every machine in the building. If he concentrated enough. Because he'd always had a certain amount of natural ability when it came to playing games.

However today was not a regular day.

Yesterday hadn't been a regular day either. The duels where the sick monsters had been summoned, those had been yesterday. And the Dark Magician... Yugi was glad that the Dark Magician was not sick. But... Had it been his imagination or had his favorite monster been angry? What could have provoked the wizard? Why had the Dark Magician obliterated all of Hondas monsters at once? Would the Dark Magician have really attacked Honda?

Whatever had caused this... Maybe there was just some glitch in the cards? Maybe a wire or something in the duelist disk had malfunctioned? Maybe the situation could be easily fixed, maybe it would never happen again. But... Just in case...

That's why they had come to the arcade. To deliver a warning. Just in case. Because Kaiba happened to own this particular arcade. Kaiba owned a lot of places, actually. And they had no idea where the elusive teenage billionaire might be. Kaiba - despite all his wealth - attended their public school. But he hadn't been in class for the past couple weeks, otherwise they would have just warned him at school. And even if Kaiba wasn't at the arcade... They could at least leave a message for him here. Yugi doubted that Kaiba would take the warning seriously. But... Maybe... If they asked nicely... Kaiba would agree to stop playing Duel Monsters. Just for a while. Just until this new crisis got sorted out.

_Hmf. Yea. Right. And pyramids fly._ The Pharaohs sarcasm mentally echoed Yugis own doubt.

_Well. Even if Kaiba doesn't listen to us, it would be good to talk to him. He might at least have some idea of what's going on. Maybe he knows why the cards are behaving strangely._ Yugi tried to prevent the next thought from coming but he couldn't. Yugi liked to be an optimist, especially when it came to other people. He was always willing to give people another chance. Always wanting to believe the best about them. And so, yea - even though Kaiba was kind of arrogant and even though Kaiba had tried to have Yugi killed on at least four separate occasions... Yugi respected his rival. He didn't want to automatically blame Kaiba for everything bad that happened. He didn't like to think that maybe Kaiba had somehow deliberately MADE the monsters sick. This just _couldn't_ be another elaborate murder scheme.

_Why not?_ The Pharaoh countered.

_He wouldn't._ Was Yugis automatic mental reply. _Even if he DOES still want to kill me - I mean, us - for some reason... Kaiba lives for Duel Monsters. I don't think he'd risk ruining the game._

The Pharaoh considered this. It was obvious that three thousand years of being stuck inside a puzzle had given the ghost plenty of time to become cynical. _If Kaiba wouldn't ruin the game to kill us... Then who would?_

Distracted by this internal dialogue, Yugi once again wasn't paying much attention to his surroundings. So when the rest of his friends stopped, he kept walking. Straight into the side of a pinball machine.

"Hey! What's wrong with you! You messed up my game!" Complained the man at the pinball machine. He glared at the group, Yugi in particular. "Don't they teach you kids no manners in school!"

Since they had finished school earlier in the afternoon, all of them were in school uniform. For Anzu this meant a long-sleeved white blouse, dark business jacket, dark blue knee-length skirt and knee-high socks. For Honda, Yugi and Jonouchi it meant clean short-sleeve shirts, dark jackets, dark pants and - on the most formal occasions - a tie. Being mildly rebellious, Jonouchi and Honda rarely tucked in their shirts or had their jackets buttoned up. Honda would occasionally wear his tie as a headband, rambo-style. Jonouchi got away with wearing a dark green jacket instead of the school-issued dark blue one. Yugi was generally a lot more conservative, although he wore an oversized studded leather belt around his waist and had a heavy collar around his neck to support the chain from which the Millennium Puzzle hung.

"Sorry." Yugi bowed apologetically and backed away.

"I was ABOUT to beat the high score!" The man at the pinball machine continued to complain. But the man didn't complain as loudly now since Anzu was frowning at him while Jonouchi and Honda cracked their knuckles.

"I�m really very sorry." Yugi remained calm. He didn�t see any reason to fight. Besides, he sort of understood where the man was coming from. Yugi knew how frustrating it could be to have a good game interrupted. He offered the stranger a smile. "I�m sure that you�ll win next time, sir."

Once, this sort of behavior would have come naturally to Yugi. He had always been rather friendly and forgiving. But now... The behavior was a little more forced. Because somewhere inside of him... The Pharaoh was registering mild anger. True - the Pharaoh didn�t have any clear memories of his own life three thousand years ago. Nevertheless, the ghost was pretty certain that - having been the divine ruling authority and all - he would have punished anyone that had dared to use such tones around him. Because while alive, it had been his right - perhaps his duty, even - to smite the evil out of people. And... Well. Old habits died hard. Three thousand years hadn't been long enough to change the Pharaohs impulse reaction to situations like this. Even now, as a ghost, the Pharaoh could be a smidge obsessive about dealing out justice. _Maybe I should challenge him to a game. Teach him some respect._

_And then what? Turn him into a pinball?_ Yugi grimaced. _This man hasn't threatened our lives or anything, you know. And I DID actually mess up his game._

The Pharaoh decided not to respond to this.

Yugi returned his attention to his friends, who were clustered around him in their usual protective way. "Why did you stop walking a moment ago?"

He was hoping to hear that perhaps his friends had seen Kaiba somewhere in the arcade. That would be the best case scenario because then they could deliver the warning and maybe find out more about why the Duel Monsters were sick. Yugi knew, however, that it was far more likely that Jonouchi and Honda had spotted an attractive female and had stopped to gawk. The way Anzu was fuming, he half expected to hear that excuse. But instead Anzu pointed toward the section of the arcade that had been reserved for duelists. Two people were preparing to duel and a small crowd had gathered to watch.

The small crowd was mostly female. And all of these girls, Yugi noticed, were wearing very familiar school uniforms. The same as Anzus. And one of the people dueling...

"Hey... Isn't that Bakura?" Confusion crept into Yugis voice. He HAD seen Ryo at school earlier today. And during the ten or so seconds that poor Ryo had managed to escape from his local fanclub, Yugi and Anzu had explained about the Duel Monsters being sick. And Bakura had promised not to duel for a while. So why did it look like Bakura was about to have a duel...?

"If he can break a promise so quickly," Anzu growled, rolling a sleeve back and raising a fist, "I'm liable to break his jaw."

Everyone within ten feet of Anzu - including complete strangers - sweatdropped and leaned away from her slightly. It was clear that she wasn't having a good day and even clearer that Bakuras fanclub annoyed her for some reason.

"Hopefully it doesn't come to that." said Yugi.

"Yea. Maybe Ryo just isn't himself right now." Jonouchi folded his arms. "Though if he's wearing that creepy Millennium Ring again, I'll be the one to break his jaw."

_And I'll break his neck._ The Pharaoh grumbled inside Yugis head. The Pharaoh wasn't having a good day either.

"Let�s give the guy a chance to explain himself first." Honda calmly reasoned as he took a step towards the duelist arena. "Then we can figure out who gets to break what."

* * *


	3. Wild Cards

_In the Cards_

by DoraMouse

* * *

**Part 3: Wild Cards**

Once upon a time, long before the Millennium Puzzle had been solved, a young boy had been walking to school. A young boy who was abnormally short. A young boy with highly unusual hair colors - thick black spikes fringed in violet plus golden bangs - and innocent purple eyes that seemed to take up half of his face. A very kind, polite and shy child. The type of kid that wore his school uniform even on weekends and holidays. An instant target for bullies, in other words.

Which was exactly why Anzu had started escorting Yugi to and from school. Before she'd even known Yugis name, she'd known that other kids would pick on him and that was all that had mattered back then. Maybe it was just because Anzu was an only child. Or maybe it was because Anzu had never been allowed to have a pet. But her protective instincts had always needed an outlet, so... She had sort of mentally adopted Yugi as a little brother. Even though he was the same age as Anzu, she'd just automatically thought of him that way. As someone to protect and be responsible for.

Times had changed. People had changed. They were in high school now, on the brink of adulthood. Anzu thought of her friend as... Well. Yea. A friend. An equal. Yugi had grown up a lot. He wasn't so easily startled or frightened anymore. He didn't need...

Well. That wasn't completely true. Yugi _did_ still need protection. In fact, he probably needed more protection than ever. Because the bullies that picked on Yugi these days, they weren't just trying to steal his lunch money or make him cry. These days... Most of the bullies that picked on Yugi wanted to kill him.

Thankfully, Yugi had the protection he needed. Jonouchi and Honda were both quite willing to risk their lives for Yugis sake - something they'd proven on several occasions now. And the Pharaoh spirit that lived inside of Yugi seemed to be invulnerable. Which meant that Anzu didn't escort her friend to school anymore. She still lived in the same general neighborhood and still attended the same school as Yugi. But she just didn't feel as compelled to keep an eye on him. Although it was sometimes hard to accept... Hard to step back and let go... Anzu felt that her friend simply didn't need her. Not as much. Not anymore. And that was okay. Kind of. Anzu sort of missed playing the older-sister role, missed being the one that Yugi looked up to but... Well. This would give her a chance to get on with her own life. She could go to work and earn some money and save up and take more dance classes and finally, maybe, go to America and dance on a stage in a musical. Even if she didn't become rich or famous... Even if she wasn't the star of the show... It would still be a dream come true.

More than anything else in the world, Anzu was determined to have one truly proud and content moment in her life. Just one moment where she could smile, without any worry or regret or fear, and say to the world: "I have done what I set out to do." That, in Anzus mind, was the definition of happiness. Because so many people - especially young people - gave up on their dreams and ambitions and then spent the rest of their lives wondering about what could have been. Anzu felt as if she HAD to follow through on her dreams, just to prove that it was actually possible to achieve such goals. And, who knew. Maybe... Maybe she would even inspire someone...

Inwardly, Anzu sighed. The boys were standing a few paces ahead of her now and Anzu couldn't help but think that inspiration was the last thing that any of them needed. Jonouchi had already turned out better than both of his parents - so long as he kept that up, he shouldn't have much left to prove to the world. Honda would probably end up wandering the globe and earning prestige that way. And Yugi... How strange it must be, to be sixteen years old AND the world champion of something already. But knowing Yugi, the rest of his life would be anything but dull. Maybe he'd take up a few other games and earn more championship titles.

Next to everything that her friends had already accomplished... Anzu almost started to wonder if the pursuit of her own dream was worthwhile.

To soothe her mind, she focused on the lights. The arcade was full of colorful flashing lights. The arcade was also full of random discarded bits of trash shoved between the machines, extremely tacky carpet and wallpaper designs, a wide assortment of blaring game sound effects, the clink of money changing hands and the wail of various people shouting to be heard over all the racket. But Anzu concentrated on just the lights. And she tried to imagine that the scene was dark and mysterious and beautiful and full of possibilities. And she hoped, secretly, that somewhere in New York City was a stage that looked this way. And she told the stage to wait for her.

_If you must travel then do it while you're still young._ Her mother was always insisting. _When you're young, you'll see the bright lights and the subtle beauty. If you go when you're old then all you'll remember is the traffic and the smog and the prices._

Dancing was, for Anzu, a way of life. A state of mind. It went far beyond the actual time spent in dance class. Everything she did - the foods that she chose to consume, the daily exercise routines, the amount of sleep that she allowed herself - was influenced by dance. Because in order to dance well, Anzu knew that she had to live well. The next challenge, though, was harder. Because in order to dance _really_ well, a certain amount of emotion was required. A person who could see - and feel - some hint of beauty and hope in the world, no matter what their actual surroundings were, would always be able to dance gracefully. And so, by tuning out the negative aspects of the arcade, Anzu practiced.

No matter what she had ever told anyone... No matter what her deck contained these days... Her very favorite Duel Monster card would always be the Dancing Elf. It wasn't a strong monster and it didn't have any special effects but... The mental image of a lone figure dancing across a battlefield... So brave and unexpected. Delicate yet focused. Anzu considered the Dancing Elf a metaphor for her own life.

A series of high-pitched protests signaled that Bakuras fanclub was being broken up. Anzu couldn't help but scowl. She didn't get along with most of her female peers. They were just so shallow. At school, the other girls were always asking Anzu if she had a boyfriend yet - as if that was all that mattered in life. They would tease her for being too boyish and spread nasty rumors - as if there was something WRONG with a girl being physically fit, mentally independent and having goals that didn't involve getting married. Ugh! It was all so immature. Anzu honestly just didn't care about wearing makeup or going out on dates. She wasn't the sort of person who could stand around giggling and blushing over boys.

Well... There was ONE boy that she SORT of liked. But he had been dead for three thousand years and on top of that, had amnesia. So... That kind of took care of that. Anzu wasn't about to admit that she had a crush on the Pharaoh. Not to anyone. Because she seriously doubted that it was possible to date a ghost. And she also kind of doubted that the Pharaoh - what with being dead and having outlived so many people and being kinda preoccupied with the quest to recover his memories - would want a relationship anyway. And besides... She didn't want to alienate, confuse or embarrass the living heck out of poor Yugi.

Reluctantly, as the members of Bakuras fanclub shuffled off to other parts of the arcade, Anzu stalked forward. She didn't have to turn her head to catch the mean looks that the other girls gave her. Didn't have to hear the words to know that they were whispering about her, insulting her, laughing behind her back.

"- since they're always following me around anyway." Bakura finished. Apparently he'd been explaining his reasons for challenging one of his self-appointed fangirls to a duel.

Bakura was almost as tall as Jonouchi. He had dark eyes and startling white hair. Startling not just because it was odd for someone so young to have naturally white hair but because Bakura had allowed his hair to grow long enough to hang down past his shoulders. He seemed to be in his gentle mode. It was difficult to tell - Bakuras hair and eyes didn't change the way Yugis did when he was possessed. His voice and stance were the major clues. And right now Bakura sounded calm, polite and friendly. Like the gentle teenager they went to school with. But...

Anzu stopped in her tracks. The Millennium Ring hung around Bakuras neck. She saw that the others were well aware of this problem, recovered her courage and joined the group.

"But you _promised_ not to duel for a while." Yugi was cautiously insisting. "Remember? We need to find out if - "

Honda - who favored listening over speaking in most situations - had slipped behind Bakura and seemed ready to attack if needed. Jonouchi was radiating a similar attitude, he had placed himself at an angle between Honda and Yugi. So Anzu quietly stepped into the pattern, bracing herself and standing opposite Jonouchi. Now they had Bakura boxed in. And if there was trouble then Bakura would probably target Yugi first, so... Anzu leaned in that direction.

And it was from this particular vantage point that Anzu noticed something else. Something which, no matter how much she looked at it, absolutely refused to make sense. "Er. Excuse me?" Anzu caught a lull in the conversation. "Bakura, why do you have a toaster?"

"Yea." Jonouchi chimed in. "I been wonderin' about that too."

"Oh." Bakura smiled one of his perfectly innocent smiles and happily drummed his fingers on the side of the toaster which he carried under one arm. He was in an inexplicably good mood. "I won it. I think."

"... you think?" Yugi and the Pharaoh both spoke at once. "You mean that you don't _remember_?"

Bakura scratched his head. "Uhm..."

All of them turned and looked at the prize desk of the arcade. If you won enough games and collected enough tickets then you could trade the tickets for various prizes. Plush toys of all sizes. Keychains. Posters. Glow-in-the-dark stickers. Water guns. Whistles. Plastic figurines. Sparkly pencils. Paper fans and umbrellas. Coupons that were good for a free snack from the snack bar. That sort of thing. For the more serious gamers, there were slightly better prizes to be had. You could win a pocket knife or a watch or a compass. A purse or a backpack or a small tent. A kite or a wind chime or a jacket. A collectible comic book or a bicycle. And - since Kaiba owned the arcade - it was even possible to win Duel Monster cards.

But there were no toasters.

Four questioning stares settled on Bakura and, more intensely, on the toaster that he held.

Anzu squinted. There was writing on the side of the toaster but she couldn't make it out - Bakuras arm was in the way. Plus the letters looked sort of weird.

"Did you win it at school?" Honda was thinking aloud. "Or was a home appliance store having a promotional giveaway?"

Jonouchi shook his head. "That's ridiculous. What kinda school contest would you win a toaster from?"

"Maybe a cooking contest." Honda shrugged.

"Our school doesn't have any - " Jonouchi began.

Honda smirked, because he had good reason to find the memory funny. "Yes it does!"

"But that wasn't RECENT." Jonouchi continued. "And the winner did NOT get a toaster!"

"How do you know for sure?" Honda countered smoothly. "You didn't win."

Jonouchi sent a smoldering glare at his friend that said: _Yea, well - neither did you._ And Honda replied with a rather smug look of: _At least I didn't almost set the building on fire._

Yugi, who was completely ignoring the now near-telepathic argument between Honda and Jonouchi, tugged at Bakuras sleeve. "Please say that you didn't win this toaster from a game."

"Okay. If it'll make you feel better." Bakura shrugged and cleared his throat. "I did not win this toaster from a game." He paused. "Although, now that you mention it..."

"Which game?" Yugi cut in, agitated.

"Duel Monsters. I think." Bakura managed an earnest smile. "I had offered to teach the girls - you know, the ones in my fanclub that stalk me most of the time - about role playing games but that didn't go over too well. They all tried to create characters who were destined to fall in love with my wizard..."

Yugi was troubled by something and so he ended Bakuras rambling. "Did anyone die?"

"I don't think so. We didn't get that far in the RPG... Oh, wait. Do you mean in the duel? No."

"Has anyones soul been sealed into anything, including that toaster?"

"Uhm. No. Not that I'm aware of." Bakura glanced down with concern. "Are you feeling okay, Yugi? Had enough sleep and everything? You're starting to kind of scare me."

Yugi took a deep breath then released it, trying to sound brave. "There's a gap in your memory, isn't there Ryo?"

"Well, yes. But that happens sometimes when..." Bakura struggled for the words, shifting the toaster in his arms.

"I know." Yugi sighed. "Used to happen to me too. So the question is... If you can't remember how you got the toaster or whether anyones soul has been sealed into it... Then... Can the OTHER you remember?"

The Millennium Ring, which Bakura had received as a gift from a relative that collected strange antiques, happened to contain the soul of a dangerous man who had lived in Egypt three thousand years ago. The man was a legendary thief with some skill in magic as well. Ryo didn't much care for this other self. For a long while, Bakura had been afraid to make new friends simply because everyone that he cared for either died or ended up in a coma. All thanks to the work of the Thief. And, for some reason, the Thief didn't suffer from complete amnesia. So the Thief inside Bakura seemed to remember - seemed to know - about the Pharaoh inside Yugi. Which had lead to the Thief attempting to kill Yugi. Grudges like this, Ryo could not forgive.

Hence it was with extreme reluctance that Bakura turned inward. Usually, he didn't even wear the Millennium Ring. Usually, he didn't want anything to do with the Thief. "I suppose I could ask." Bakura let the distaste in his voice emphasize how much he hated to go to the Thief. "Although he'll probably lie, if he answers at all."

Precisely at that moment, Anzu clapped her hands together and startled everyone. "HeatCo!" she exclaimed with a laugh. And then, when she noticed all the blank expressions around her, she pointed at the toaster. "It says 'HeatCo' on the side. In English!" Again the goofy smile, only now it was self-conscious. "I was trying to read the writing from right to left, that's why it didn't make sense at first. English is written from left to right..."

Nobody seemed to be impressed. Anzu realized in an instant that Jonouchi and Honda thought she might need medication, though neither of them had noticed the writing. Bakura might have known about the writing but he was acting kind of weird. And Yugi and the Pharaoh had probably known exactly what the writing said as soon as they first saw the toaster but they hadn't thought it was worth mentioning.

Anzu decided to ignore all of this. She wasn't going to let it get her down. She was still proud of her little accomplishment. And it made her more curious. Where in Japan would anyone get a toaster with English writing on the side? Why would anyone even want a toaster with...

A flash of color darted through Bakuras eyes and he looked at the people around him as if they were all complete strangers. With a sudden growl, he clutched the toaster a bit more protectively and his long white hair actually appeared to bristle. Before any of them had a chance to react to these changes, Bakura charged forward and shoved Anzu out of his way.

"HEY!" Anzu took three clumsy steps backwards before she recovered her balance. Not bad, for a regular person but awful for a dancer. Inwardly Anzu vowed to work harder. But for now... Bakura was headed for the nearest exit. Jonouchi and Honda were not far behind him and Yugi - or was it the Pharaoh now? - had taken off in a different direction. He would probably try to cut Bakura off, block the exit of the arcade. Which would work. Unless...

The arcade had more than one exit. And Bakura didn't live anywhere near here. And in this part of town... There was only one bus stop. Which would be the perfect place to 'accidentally' trip someone.

Anzu crossed her fingers and jogged off towards the local bus stop. If Bakura made it there... She'd be waiting.

* * *

With a muffled hiss and a string of angry remarks, Jonouchi pushed off of the pavement and rolled to his feet to avoid being trampled by the crowd of pedestrians. Honda took a moment longer to recover. It was own fault, he decided. Because he really should have known better. Jonouchi was tough but he wasn't terribly agile. Which meant that if you happened to be a fast runner... And if you happened to get ahead of Jonouchi... And then you happened to stop very abruptly... Then Jonouchi would almost definitely crash into you.

Honda shook his head at the memory as he got to his feet. This was sort of how he'd first met Jonouchi. An accident. Later, he had discovered that Jonouchi attended his school. Which hadn't counted for anything at first. Because they hadn't instantly become friends. Jonouchi simply wasn't that trusting of people. Neither was Honda. If an ambitious bully at their old school hadn't threatened and cornered both of them... Then Honda and Jonouchi might have never become friends.

Well. Ally was a better word for it. They respected each other and would cover for each other in a fight - that was about all. Honda tried not to think of it as friendship. Not anymore. Because he didn't want to get too attached to anyone. Because deep down... He knew the time was coming. Adulthood. The real world. In another year, they would finish high school and graduate and go their separate ways. He'd probably never even see his peers again. They'd be so busy with work and college and whatever else they decided to do.

And hopefully Jonouchi would get a decent job and a fall into a stable relationship with a nice lady and...

Really, the only reason... Well. Okay. Not the ONLY reason. But the MAIN reason that Honda had continued to hang around Jonouchi... It was a case of role reversal. Once, Honda - who hadn't always been much of a fighter - had looked up to and relied on Jonouchi for protection from bullies. But now... Eh. They still had bullies to deal with - and professional assassins and eccentric rich people and all the various other weirdos that had tried to make Yugis life miserable - but now... Honda felt sort of responsible. Yugi and the Pharaoh could save them from the eccentric rich people and otherworldly evil doers. But someone had to prevent Jonouchi from becoming either a worthless alcoholic gambler or a brutal gang member. Which was easier said than done, sometimes. Because even though Jonouchi was, basically, a good person with good intentions... He had inherited some addictions.

Yugi and Anzu were both good people - but they had probably never taken a baseball bat to someone they respected. Honda, on the other hand, had found it necessary. It wasn't something they spoke of but... Jonouchi had eventually - after quitting a few illegal habits - appreciated the gesture.

"Where the heck did he go?" Jonouchi was standing on his tiptoes, as if that would help him to locate Bakura. The sidewalk was practically alive with people, all going about their own business. In a crowd like this... "Hey!" Jonouchi tried to get the attention of the pedestrians strolling around him. "Did anyone see a guy with long white hair run through here? Which way did he go?"

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Honda wondered what his life would be like after high school. What would be it be like - a day without Jonouchi? A day without fighting and joking and friendly competition and homework. Honda couldn't quite imagine. He just hoped that when it happened, it would be a good day for both of them. That Jonouchi would stay sober. Because Honda was restless. He would have to get on with his own life.

Honda didn't have any specific long-term goals yet. He wasn't sure what he wanted to do or become. Maybe he would try a few jobs before he settled on a career. Or maybe he would never really settle on anything. But exploring seemed like a good idea. There was so much to see in the world...

"Yea! That's what I said, white hair!" Jonouchi had apparently found a witness. "Really long white hair. No - he wasn't old! But he was carrying a toaster, if that helps. Did you see him?"

Honda frowned and glanced through the crowd. He could hear Jonouchi but there wasn't any sign of Anzu or Yugi, nevermind Bakura. And even though the sidewalk was thick with people... Honda felt that he should have been able to locate them. Because Yugi was just plain impossible to miss. Between his abnormal hair colors, the giant pyramid-shaped pendant that he wore around his neck and his talent for being a trouble magnet - Yugi was often fairly easy to find. And Anzu... Was not half bad looking. In a crowd this size, someone would probably try to pinch her backside and that would lead to the inevitable indignant scream followed by an amateur kickboxing demonstration on the unlucky idiot who had offended her.

It was almost kind of cute - the way Anzu could break a grown mans arm when she was really ticked off.

Honda blinked at this rather unnatural thought and frowned at the pavement, deciding that maybe he'd hit the ground too hard. That had to be it. Because the word 'cute' didn't enter his conscious mind very often.

"Great. Just great. Everyone SAW Bakura run past but nobody knows where he went." Jonouchi slumped against a conveniently placed lamp post.

"Maybe he went back into the arcade?" Honda shrugged and nodded in the direction of the entrance. "I don't see Anzu or Yugi out here so..."

Jonouchi straighten up and studied the crowd. "Hey, you're right." He began to walk back to the arcade. "Maybe they caught Bakura already."

"Guess we'll have to wait and see. Anzu has our tickets. We can't get back into the arcade without..."

Jonouchi scoffed and kept walking. The sun poked out from behind some clouds and for a moment, Jonouchis scruffy hair seemed a shade more red than dusty brown.

On the one hand, Honda knew that this was the right thing to do. Bakura - or rather, the Thief spirit inside of Bakura - could be dangerous. Anzu and Yugi and the Pharaoh would probably have the situation under control. But they might need help. And so, as a friend, it was the right thing to do - to offer to help.

Meanwhile, on the other hand... There was some part of Honda that was tempted to just walk away. Because he had worked so hard, for so many years, just trying to keep Jonouchi out of trouble. And then one day... To have Yugi just show up... To have Jonouchi become fanatically loyal to the kid... Yugi was all right, really. But it kind of hurt, the way that Jonouchi had acted as if he'd never had a friend before. And it kind of defeated all of Hondas efforts, when Jonouchi was happy to break the law for the sake of defending Yugi. And...

A hollow clank resounded as Hondas shoe connected with something. He looked down. A toaster lay on its side near his foot. Honda blinked. A shadow fell over him. He looked up. And didn't have a chance to scream.

* * *


	4. Shuffle Up

_In the Cards_

by DoraMouse

* * *

**Part 4: Shuffle Up**

It wasn't the shouting that made Jonouchi turn. He'd grown up around people who shouted all the time, so he'd gotten accustomed to automatically tuning out all the background noise that people could make. In school and with friends, Jonouchi always made an effort to listen and pay attention but around a bunch of random strangers... Why bother?

However... On the other hand... Jonouchi had developed a sort of mild sixth sense for danger. Detecting threats had been necessary for his survival. He wouldn't have lasted long - not at home nor at school, and certainly not during his time in the street gangs - if he'd completely ignored the world around him. So without glancing back, Jonouchi noticed that Honda wasn't following him to the arcade. And he turned to wait for his friend.

And that's when Jonouchi caught a glimpse of Bakura. And it was only a glimpse because... Well. Somehow, Bakura had managed to get up onto the canopy that covered the few sections of pavement around the arcade. And then... With a howl... Bakura dove into the crowd.

Possessed or not, leaping headfirst towards solid concrete simply could not be a good idea.

Jonouchi pushed his way through the crowd, mentally praying that Bakura had landed in a fruit cart or on a pedestrian - something like that. Because the last thing that Jonouchi wanted to see was a person with a serious head injury. What in the world could have made Ryo...? Or was it the Thief who was in control?

An uneven line of people was all that remained between Jonouchi and a clearing in the crowded sidewalk. From here, Jonouchi could see that... But this had to be impossible. How could Bakura have landed on his feet? The drop from the canopy wasn't that far and Bakura had dropped headfirst. Supernatural reflexes would have been required to turn around. And speaking of supernatural reflexes... Since when was Bakura capable of levitating?

There was something very strange about all this. And strange, in Jonouchis experience, was not usually a good thing. But what could be done? Jonouchi didn't know how to react. It was stuff like this that made him doubt the value of his education. Oh, sure. School was a great place to learn reading and writing. But what good was that going to do when someone decided to start hovering and growling like a wild animal?

Honda was nearby, clutching his nose and covered in what could only be described as claw marks. He squinted over his hand, took half a step back and then kicked. With a series of rapid, fierce little kicks, Honda moved something up from the pavement and then promptly clobbered Bakura with it.

_Oh._ Jonouchi recognized the toaster as it bounced off Bakuras skull. Honda moved to follow through with a punch, Bakura hissed and sidestepped and the toaster... Shouldn't the toaster have hit the ground by now?

Hrm. Bakura wasn't paying attention to anyone else. So he was wide open to an attack from...

"Jonouchi!"

That was Yugis voice. And Jonouchi knew that he wasn't the only person who recognized it. Yugi was famous these days. Especially around arcades. The serious gamers in the area, they all knew that Yugi was the champion of Duel Monsters. So Yugi was almost always being challenged or threatened or asked for advice.

Jonouchi glared at the surrounding crowd. He didn't want anyone to bother his friend. These people couldn't even begin to appreciate - nevermind respect - what Yugi had risked and endured in order to become the world champion.

A few more people stood aside. Breathless, Yugi finally came into view. "Jonouchi!" He couldn't hide the alarm in his tone. "Don't - !"

The toaster came down. Yugi darted backwards but the toaster changed direction and followed him. Jonouchi wasn't sure what exactly happened next because the Millennium Puzzle lit up and the Millennium Ring gave off dazzling sparks and the toaster was glowing so brightly... For a few moments, everyone in the vicinity was blinded.

As the bright light faded, the crowd of spectators hurried to return to their own business. No one wanted to be involved in - or blamed for - such strange events. A few of the people grumbled about lightening but most of them were content to pretend that nothing abnormal had happened.

Honda was still standing, although not very steadily. A few streaks of electric blue energy cobwebbed around him before fading. Bakura was curled into a ball on the pavement, looking slightly charred. And Yugi...

"The employees at the arcade..." Yugi spoke slowly and in dazed tones, as if it suddenly took quite an effort to speak at all. "...noticed a glitch..." He leaned heavily on the nearest object - another conveniently placed lamp post - and spent a while blinking and shaking his head, as if trying to ward off a migraine. He was clutching the Millennium Puzzle with one hand, hard enough that his knuckles were turning white. Truth be told, the color had drained from most of his features.

"Wonderful. Tell me about it later, aw'right?" Jonouchi allowed Honda to lean on one of his shoulders. He stood and waited a few minutes, hoping that his friends would recover quickly. Jonouchi knew that he could probably drag Honda for a while if he had to. And if worst came to worst then it wouldn't be too hard to carry Yugi since Yugi was so small for his age. But... Dragging Honda and carrying Yugi both at once would be a bit of strain. And they couldn't just leave Bakura in the middle of the sidewalk, that wouldn't be right.

"Hey!"

For once, Jonouchi decided, it was good to hear Anzus voice.

"I saw the fireworks from the bus station and... AH!" She jogged right past him, of course. Anzu went straight to Yugi. It was kind of annoying, sometimes, the way she tried to mother people. "What happened? Are you okay? Should I call an ambulance?"

Yugi was not up to talking at the moment and Anzu didn't react well to his silent. She stood, her stance protective, and raised a fist at Jonouchi. "I swear, if this is your fault..."

Jonouchi flinched. "Why would it be MY fault?"

"If it's NOT your fault then WHY are you just STANDING HERE when..."

"Hmf. I don't see YOU doing anything constructive."

"Enough!" said the Pharaohs voice. He spoke loudly, which caught their attention. And also... They were rather startled by something else as well. Mainly... The Pharaoh hadn't spoken through Yugi.

"Uhm. I think..." Yugi found his voice and spoke softly to his startled friends, "there's been a bit of a mix up."

* * *

Though his conscious mind was still whirling to recover from the shock he'd been dealt... Somewhere on a more instinctive subconscious level, Yugi already understood the situation. So without much thought on his part... He lifted his hands and began to unfasten his collar. Because the Pharaohs spirit wasn't inside the Millennium Puzzle anymore. The noble spirit hadn't gone far but...

"That's probably wise." Bakura was sitting up now, he watched Yugi take off the Millennium Puzzle. "And you can always take the puzzle apart if..."

"It took me eight years to solve this puzzle." Yugi muttered. "I'm not taking it apart."

Bakura shrugged in a way that said 'no offense intended'.

Anzu, who had started to grasp the situation, glanced from one Millennium item to the other. "I didn't know it was possible for the Pharaoh to leave the puzzle."

"He couldn't leave the puzzle when it was pieces, Anzu." Yugi explained. It felt rather awkward to speak of someone this way, especially since the Pharaoh was listening. "But when I solved the puzzle, I gave him the ability to leave. That's how he was able to..." Yugi hesitated. He didn't want the use the word 'possess' because that made the act sound evil and forceful. And as far as Yugi knew, the Pharaoh had only ever posessed him in order to help him out. "...borrow my body. And that's why I'm not going to wear this puzzle until I know who - or what - is inside of it now."

Despite the fact that Yugi had been aware of the Pharaoh for slightly more than three years, they hadn't seen each other much. Sometimes the Pharaoh had chosen to materialize next to him as a transparent ghost but for the most part... Well. Yugi didn't live in a house full of mirrors. And thankfully, there had only been one or two occasions where his own soul had gotten sealed into something - leaving the Pharaoh to take charge of his body by default. So it was actually rather interesting, Yugi thought, just to be able to see - face to face, sort of - this ghost that had been following him around for so long.

"Ah. So if the Pharaoh is over here now, then where...?" Jonouchi began to ask.

"I'm not sure." Yugi swung the Millennium Puzzle by its chain. Then he noticed the mildly horrified expression of the Pharaoh and, with slightly more respect for the ancient artifact, put the puzzle into his backpack. "Bakura, what do you think?"

Silence.

"Uhm... Bakura?"

As a group, they noticed that Bakura was no longer where he had been sitting. And the constant crowd of people walking around them seemed to offer no clues.

Jonouchi sweatdropped. "Great. He's ditched us. Again."

Yugi nearly facefaulted. "I can't believe that he'd sneak off!"

"I can." Anzu nodded in the direction of the arcade, where high-pitched giggling could be heard.

"Oh." Yugi sweatdropped as he watched Bakuras fanclub exit the arcade. The girls must have done fairly well because they were toting several posters and plush animals.

"Good thing _they_ weren't out here a couple minutes ago." Jonouchi observed. "Being spirit-swapped with..." He noticed the several withering glares that his friends had aimed at him and let that thought trail off. "Nevermind. But listen," Jonouchi couldn't let the subject drop. "if this is the Pharaoh now - then where is Honda?"

"We'll find him." The Pharaoh promised, in a tone of forced calmness. "And Bakura. And the Thief. And... Did anyone see what happened to that toaster?"

Silence. The toaster, of course, was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps Bakura had taken it. Perhaps someone else had.

_The Pharaoh is over there._ Yugi couldn't quite get over the idea. It was... Weird. And kind of scary. And kind of... Liberating. He wasn't sure if it was proper to feel happy about this catastrophe. But... It meant that... _I wonder._ Yugi had already started to reach for his deck and walk towards the girls. Because maybe these girls could tell him where the toaster had come from in the first place. And... More importantly... _I wonder how good I really am at this game, on my own._

"Excuse me?" Yugi had to repeat this a few times before he was close enough to get their attention. The girls stared at him as if he were lost for a moment before recognizing first his school uniform and then his face. "Uhm. Would any of you like to duel?" Yugi could see that they wouldn't take his offer seriously, so he added a white lie to change their minds. "Bakura mentioned that you were becoming skilled duelists."

This had an instant effect. The girls looked as if they'd won a lottery. Their delighted squeals ranged from "Bakura said that!" to "He noticed us!". In fact the girls were _so_ ecstatic that they didn't notice at all when a hand reached out of the crowd, grabbed Yugi by his shirt collar and dragged him back a few paces.

"Have you gone INSANE?" Anzu hissed.

"Anzu!" Yugi exclaimed after a healthy coughing fit, "I have to know if I can..."

"Still play the game?" Anzu sounded exasperated. "Yugi - why WOULDN'T you be able to? And if you have to duel anyone, why not challenge one of us? You think _they_," Anzu made a point of emphasizing the word to show that she would have preferred to use something far more harsh, "can play anywhere near world champion level?"

"I don't know if _I_ can still play at that level!" Yugi retorted, a little more loudly than he'd intended.

The Pharaoh - and it was definitely the Pharaoh because Hondas brown eyes had a purple tint to them now and his brown hair was developing faint blonde streaks - coughed. "Ah. You've seen enough of my games to..."

"Yea! We have more important things to worry about here!" Jonouchi said. "And aren't the monsters still sick?"

"Yea!" Anzu stood with one hand on her hip, "Plus you've got a reputation to defend. Yugi! Every duelist on the planet knows about you now. And at least half of those freaks want the god cards for themselves - remember? If you start accepting challenges from random schoolgirls..." Anzu shook her head. "You'd never hear the end of it. Not to mention..." Anzu finished this sentence by indicating the arcade.

"Much as I hate to agree with her - she's got a point." Jonouchi shouldered Hondas duffle bag along with his own school bag and scowled at the arcade as if he could see through it. "If you duel in this place, Kaiba would probably find out. He might even be watching us right now, the creep. Lets get out of here."

Yugi folded his arms and stood his ground. "Thanks but I've already invited them to a game. I can't just back out of it now. That would be rude."

"Hmf! You wouldn't even duel with me yesterday!" Anzu fumed.

Did Anzu sound jealous? No. That couldn't be right. So Yugi calmly pointed out his reasoning. "I've seen most of your duels, Anzu. Plus I've helped you to improve your deck. Win or lose, playing against you now would be more a test of memory than skill for me. Okay? I don't know WHAT kind of decks these girls have, so - regardless of the level at which they play - it will be a better test of my abilities."

A short pause. And then the Pharaoh, sounding thoughtful, broke it. "Well. They won't have Exodia. Or the god cards. Or any Blue-Eyes White Dragons. Or the Gate Guardian. Or..."

Jonouchi was now sweatdropping and holding up a handwritten sign that read: 'Ta-DA. That's why those are called RARE cards.'

Anzu recovered from her momentary impulse to smack Yugi. Didn't he realize how MUCH Bakuras fanclub annoyed her? Why did he suddenly prefer playing against complete strangers? And how dare he imply that she could never really beat him at Duel Monsters! Even if it might be true... The way he'd said it... Augh! It was like... Like suddenly the game meant more than all their years of friendship. Which couldn't be right. Yugi had always valued his friends. Maybe he was just... Not himself?

The impulse returned, and this time - much to the surprise of everyone - Anzu acted on it. "I don't know WHO you are!" She cried, as she landed a solid kick to the ribs. "But I won't let you ruin Yugis life!"

* * *


	5. Language Barriers

_In the Cards_

by DoraMouse

* * *

**Part 5: Language Barriers**

With a smile and a wave, Mrs. Mutou watched the customers leave. Then she returned her attention to the front counter, which Anzu was leaning on. "Okay. So what does this card do then?"

Yugis family owned what was, arguably, the best game store in all of Domino City. The Kame Game Shop was a small place but Yugis grandfather was a bit of a game expert - so there was always something unique and interesting in stock. These days though, the bulk of the store was devoted to a handful of popular collectible games. Duel Monsters in particular. The wall behind the cash register was now covered in sheets of plastic holders containing the common cards and the front counter had nothing but exotic monster, trap and magic cards arranged neatly under its glass surface. The shop even hosted casual weekend tournaments, where people could gather for old fashioned table-top duels.

In the past, Yugis grandfather had run the shop on his own. But... Well. Yugis grandfather had been through a lot in the last three years. Mr. Mutou had been forced to duel Kaiba at one point - this had resulted in Mr. Mutou being rushed to the hospital for emergency heart surgery. Later, in order to force Yugi to go to the Duelist Kingdom, Pegasus had sealed Mr. Mutous soul into a television. So for nearly a week, Mr. Mutous physical body had been left in an unresponsive coma. And then there were all the times where Yugis grandfather had been knocked out by zombies or bullies seeking revenge or... Eh. To make a long story short, it had been more or less impossible to keep Yugis grandfather from learning about the Pharaoh. Because it had been necessary, on more than one occasion, for the Pharaoh to either rescue or avenge the old man.

Yugis mother was a different story. She wasn't aware of the Pharaoh. No one had told her. No one was quite sure how to explain the situation. As far as Yugis mom knew, Yugi was just going through a phase. And she loved her son but... These days, her main concern was for her fathers health. Because while Yugi and the Pharaoh had kept busy getting even with Kaiba and Pegasus and everyone... Mrs. Mutou had been the one sitting in the hospital, waiting for news from the doctors and worrying about medical bills. Not once had anyone been willing to tell her the real reasons that her father had suddenly ended up at the hospital. So naturally, she just assumed that her father was getting delicate in his old age.

She had always helped to run the store. Mrs. Mutou had a degree in accounting. She handled most of her families finances, the store was included in that. She paid the bills and placed the orders and took the daily profits to the bank. But now... Because she didn't want her father to get hurt from working too much, she had become more involved in the day-to-day operations. These days Mrs. Mutou worked in the front of the store more often, instead of being back in her office all the time. She put the new games out, cleaned the shelves and dealt with the customers. She had even supervised a couple of the tournaments.

Which was kind of odd, Anzu thought, because the woman hadn't dueled yet. Still. Mrs. Mutou obviously understood the fundamentals of Duel Monsters. Either that or she just had a knack for picking good cards.

"Oh. That's one of the new effect monsters." Anzu leaned her head down, squinting at the card text. But she was too aware of her reflection in the glass countertop to focus.

Two thoughts crossed Anzus mind. The first - unavoidable - thought was that she shouldn't look so calm. Because she didn't feel calm. Anzu still felt horrible about everything that had happened. Guilty. That was the keyword. She had attacked her own best friend. Because she'd thought that he was possessed. And the terrible irony of it all... Was that Yugi _had_ been possessed, on and off, for the past three years. And Anzu hadn't attacked him once during that time. No. Of course not. She'd had to wait until the one day when Yugi wasn't actually possessed by anything and _then_ attack him.

Inwardly, Anzu sighed. Mentally kicking herself. At least she hadn't done any serious damage to her friend. Yugi might have a few bruised ribs but... Jeez. Who was she kidding? That was serious enough.

Her attention drifted to the second, more subtle, thought. _I look like her._ Nobody had ever commented on this issue. Anzu noticed anyway. Especially now. It was hard not to notice. Mrs. Mutou was standing right there, behind the counter. And the observation was strange but true. Mrs. Mutou was a little taller and slightly heavier than Anzu. Time had given Mrs. Mutou a few wrinkles and experience had left her with some fading scars. Beyond that, though, the resemblance was uncanny. They had the same short hair, cut in the same style. They had the same round eyes with the thin black eyebrows. The same shape to the face and similar proportions on the rest of the body. It made Anzu wonder if Mrs. Mutou had ever taken a dance class.

And it made Anzu feel a little protective of Yugis mother. Because who knew - maybe in another ten or twenty years, this was what Anzu would be. Perhaps Anzu would become a good humoured single mom, struggling to make ends meet, worried about the health of her parents and never quite certain of her childs location.

_Yugi shouldn't take her for granted so much._ Anzu thought, studying the cards under the counter with renewed energy. _It would be good if Mrs. Mutou learned to duel._

"Anzu!"

The Kame Game Shop was a two story building under a dome shaped roof. The store only took up the front half of the ground level. The Mutou family lived in the rest of the building. A thick wall separated the store from the kitchen, a tiny utility room and a narrow office that also served as a living room. Upstairs were three bedrooms and the bathroom.

Jonouchi was coming down the stairs.

"Is everything all right?" Anzu fidgeted, her tone apologetic.

A bell jangled - it was tied to the handle of the front door. Mrs. Mutou greeted the new customers and watched them browse through the games. Jonouchi glanced at the customers, smiled in an everything-is-just-fine way towards Mrs. Mutou and then pulled Anzu aside. "No. Things are not all right." He hissed.

"Will he need a doctor?" Anzu whispered, "I really didn't mean to..."

Jonouchi blinked at her. "Wha-? Oh. Listen. Yugi's fine. He's taken a lot worse - okay? Can we move on now?"

Anzu radiated confusion. "But... You said..."

"Bakura has skipped town."

"Oh-kay..."

Jonouchi frowned as he returned to the stairs. "I've lost you, haven't I?"

Anzu nodded, following him.

"Never was much for explaining things."

"Well. How do you know that Bakura has left town?" Anzu reasoned. "And why does it matter right now?"

"Cause of the mix up. If the Pharaoh isn't in the Millennium Puzzle - and he isn't - then something else is. N' Yugi figures that the same could be true for the Millennium Ring. And maybe even that weird toaster we saw earlier..."

"Ah. I get it. You're worried that Hondas soul might be stuck in one of the artifacts." said Anzu.

"Yea." Jonouchi hesitated, fear clouded his features for a moment but then he pulled the emotion back, "And we're probably gonna need Bakuras help to get everything sorted out. But we just called Bakuras apartment and his answering machine says that he's out of town for a while. Gone to visit family or something. Do you think you could pull their addresses, Anzu? That kind of information would have to be in his student record, right?"

Anzu had stopped walking in mid-step. "Gone to visit family?" She repeated. Anzu couldn't help sounding amused. Because she was imagining how the girls in Bakuras fanclub would react to this news. "Is that what it really said? That Ryo has gone to visit his family?"

"Yea." Jonouchi didn't seem to notice the traces of delight in Anzus tone. "Bakura transferred here, remember? His family lives - I don't know. Far away."

"He transferred here so that he could live alone. He didn't want the Thief to hurt anyone that he cared about, remember?" Anzu paused. "I always thought it was kind of strange. He could have just gotten rid of the Millennium Ring but instead... He decides to live alone in a unfamiliar city." Anzu shook her head, stepped past Jonouchi and stood on the second floor landing. "Anyway. If Ryo has gone to visit family all of the sudden - maybe this means that he doesn't have the Thief anymore."

Frustration tainted Jonouchis voice. "We don't know what Bakura has in the Millennium Ring right now. And I don't feel like waiting a couple weeks to find out, either. With all due respect to the Pharaoh, there's no way that he can pull off being Honda. And even if he could... It just... Isn't right."

Anzu acknowledged this sentiment with a moment of respectful silence. She wasn't quite sure what to say. How did you comfort someone whose best friend had suddenly been replaced by a three thousand year old ghost? Even though Yugi had been possessed, on and off, for the past three years... They'd never completely lost him. They'd come close a few times but, in spite of the many creative murder attempts, they'd managed to keep Yugi around. Anzu shook her head. She tried not to think about the Pharaoh. Because she liked the Pharaoh, which just complicated things. Even if he was technically alive and independent at the moment... Right now was not the time, Anzu told herself, to consider dating. Because... Well. Honda had been a good reliable friend. And good reliable friends were hard to come by. So Honda definitely deserved rescuing, if such was possible.

"The airport. Or the harbor." Yugi stood in the doorway to his room. He'd obviously heard them coming up the stairs. He pulled a dark shirt over the layer of gauze that was wrapped tightly around his chest. There was no evidence of bleeding but Yugi winced and Anzu suspected that she'd given him some fairly severe bruises. "Bakuras family lives on a different island. I don't remember which one but... He'd have to go by boat or plane."

"Or train." Anzu corrected. "The underwater tunnel that connects all the islands is open now. Might even be cheaper."

She managed a weak smile. Jonouchi was pacing the width of the hall. He was the type who could not sit still - and this was a trait that had, gradually, rubbed off on Yugi. Anzu could tell that her friends were seriously thinking that they should run around the city, at night and just hope to stumble across Bakura at either the airport, harbor or train station. They were living in the moment. Anzu doubted that either of her friends had given much thought to the fact that they all had school tomorrow.

"Do you have a phone book?" Anzu suggested. Phone calls were expensive but it would, at least, save them some time and effort. "If Bakura is leaving the island, he'd have to get a ticket somewhere. The train and the airport both require reservations for a ticket. We could call and ask if he's made a reservation."

"That's a good idea." Yugi admitted.

Jonouchi had shouldered his backpack again and looked ready to leave. "I don't like it. We shouldn't just be standing here on the phone when Bakura is probably already on his way to..."

"He can't have packed that fast. Not if he's going to be gone for a while. Maybe he's still at his apartment and just not answering his phone. Maybe he's not even scheduled to leave until tomorrow morning." Anzu was using her class-president voice. Calm and logical without being too pushy. She focused on Yugi, glad to see that her friend didn't seem to hold any grudges against her. "Shouldn't we check the Puzzle first anyway? If we can figure out what's inside the Puzzle then we'd get a better idea of what might be in the Millennium Ring. Process of elimination and all that."

Yugi grimaced at this suggestion. Knowing that the Pharaoh wasn't in the Millennium Puzzle was apparently good enough for him. "I don't think it would be a good idea for me to check." Yugi finally said. "There's not really much I can do about this mix up. If I thought that just putting the Puzzle on would allow the Pharaoh to come back to it... Then I'd wear it. But I'm not so certain of how we're going to fix everything."

"Then maybe the Pharaoh should check." said Jonouchi. "Cause maybe he can do something."

"Yea. He'd probably welcome the chance to wear the Puzzle. After all, this has got to be the furthest away he's been from the Millennium Puzzle in three millennia." Anzu spoke in a half-whisper, leaning forward slightly and peering into Yugis room. She wasn't sure where the Pharaoh was right now. If he was just around the corner, she felt she would die of embarrassment. Because it seemed kind of rude, to be talking so boldly about someone who'd had so much authority in the past. "Uhm. Where is he?"

"Outside." Yugi shrugged into a jacket and picked up his backpack. "He needed some space. He probably would have gone to the roof, if ours wasn't a dome."

Kame was a word that meant turtle. The Kame Game Shop had nothing to do with turtles. The building had earned the name simply because the roof was a greenish dome that happened to resemble a heavy turtle shell. Dome roofs weren't all that common. Domino City was large and crowded and many of the streets were narrow - so most of the roofs were flat. Just in case some disaster made it necessary for people to flee to their rooftops. Also so that medical helicopters could land in residential areas without causing havoc on the streets.

Together, with Jonouchi leading the way, the three of them went downstairs and stepped outside. There was no garden or fenced in lawn around the Kame Game Shop. Garden space was a luxury that most city residents would never be able to afford. There was sidewalk next to a highway out front of the store, a crooked parking lot to one side and a dumpster on a platform in the alley out back. A plain brick building that looked somewhat neglected was next door. For lack of a better place to contemplate, the Pharaoh was sitting on the rusty steps of the fire escape that hung down from the neighboring building. He glanced up when they came outside and then quickly looked away. Perhaps he didn't want their company. Or perhaps...

Something was wrong. Anzu just knew it.

The situation must be stressful for the ghost, Anzu decided. That had to be all. But her intuition refused to settle down. She tried to ignore it, tried to rationalize the bad feelings away. But something was wrong.

Yugi hesitated, so he'd noticed as well. Even Jonouchi tensed. Anzu was glad for the affirmations - glad to think that she wasn't just imagining things - but worried. What else could be wrong? Why was the Pharaoh pretending to ignore them? It was strange to see him like this and not just because he was currently trapped inside Hondas body. Why did the Pharaoh seem afraid? That couldn't be right. He'd always been so brave and invincible...

"What's wrong?" Yugi voiced the question that they were all thinking.

For a long moment, the Pharaoh didn't reply. When he finally did speak... He mumbled. Anzu didn't hear him clearly but something about the tone he'd used alarmed her.

Jonouchi must not have heard either. His expression was a blend of confusion and concern. Yugi, on the other hand... Was shaken. He turned on his heel and darted back into the store. He returned less than five seconds later, with a notebook and a pencil. "Write that down." He demanded.

The Pharaoh studied the notebook with an unreadable expression before reluctantly accepting the pencil. When he started to write, Anzu took a quiet step forward. Jonouchi did the same. They were both taller than Yugi and could easily look past him or read over his shoulder. Anzu tried not to make her peeking too obvious - it would be rude to read someones private messages - but she did allow her eyes to drift down to the notebook. And what she saw there...

For just a split second, the earth stood still. That's what it felt like. Anzu couldn't breathe. Couldn't move. Couldn't speak. She was stunned. Because her intuition had been correct. There was a new problem. A rather major new problem. And it had caught them all by surprise.

"Why doesn't he write in Japanese?" Jonouchi poked gingerly at the notebook, where the Pharaoh had left four neat rows of Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. "We can't read that..."

* * *

Swirl. Blur. Poof. Clarity. Being summoned was a strange process. Kind of like waking up in an unfamiliar place, except that you didn't really feel awake. After forty or so summons, you didn't feel much of anything. There was some lingering fear and phantom pain but even those were fading.

Honda had always wanted to explore the world. He had never imagined that he'd be doing it like this.

There was no longer any way for Honda to keep track of time. He remembered being outside an arcade in Domino City. He remembered being attacked by Bakura and the strange dazzling light that the Millennium artifacts had given off. He knew that a toaster had been involved. But the memories were going vague on him and Honda wasn't sure how long ago those events had taken place. Forty games ago, that was his best guess.

Floating. That was the main sensation now. He was floating and so were the monsters. There was a small dragon of some sort directly in front of him, with a samurai beside it and another creature... A spellcaster, Honda thought, beside the samurai. There were four monsters in total over there but one of them was hiding behind the dragon. Meanwhile, lined up beside him was an insect and a large stone warrior. And below him were two human children, each with a duelist disk strapped to an arm. The kids were arguing in a language that Honda didn't recognize - but he understood the emotions in their voices and he understood the finger pointing. He'd seen arguments like this several times now.

He had been summoned. Like a monster. A Duel Monster, to be precise. Honda didn't know how or why this was happening but he'd witnessed enough games - and shadow games - in the past three years to grasp that it _was_ happening. And the kids below, they didn't have a clue. One would probably be screaming that there was an error because they hadn't meant to summon a Japanese teenager and the other kid would be saying that this was tough luck.

Tough luck was an understatement. Forty games. At least. Well. Sort of. Honda hadn't actually gotten to watch every single duel from start to finish. He'd only caught the parts that he'd been present for. Which made sense. Duel Monsters materialized when they were summoned. Only when the monster card was placed face up on the field - that's when a monster appeared. If the monster card was in a persons deck or in their hand, even if the monster card had been placed face-down on the field... It made all the difference in the world to the duelists playing the game but no difference at all to the monsters. Honda could only become aware of a duel when he was actively summoned into it. And he could only stay aware of a duel for as long as the card which had summoned him remained face up on the field. As soon as the card was sent to the graveyard for whatever reason... The process of being removed from a game was kind of like fainting. Dizziness and blurred vision and sudden inexplicable calm. None of which lasted for very long. There was always another game to be summoned into.

Honda wondered if his being summoned was a random event. There couldn't be a monster card that had his name on it anywhere, so how was he getting dragged into all these games? Had he somehow replaced a card? Was there one specific monster that all these different people were trying to summon when they got him instead? That would be the most reasonable idea but then again, not much was reasonable about this whole mess. Dreams didn't always make sense. And despite the fact that, on some level, Honda knew this wasn't a dream... Honda wanted very badly for it to be a dream. Because if this was a dream then all he had to do to make things better was wake up. And he would wake up eventually, that was just inevitable. Or at least, Honda hoped that it was inevitable.

What had happened back at the arcade? Was his physical body in a hospital now? Were his friends okay? Was this what it felt like, to be in a coma? Or was it worse? Could he be dead? Had anyone called his parents? Who would take care of his dog? Honda hated to be left out of the loop. Hated not having the answers. Sure - this whole weird hallucination, it might make him a better duelist in the long run. But right at that moment, Honda would have dropped dueling completely in less than a heartbeat for just a chance to get back to normal.

Speaking of normal... The duel was not normal. So far, none of the duels that Honda had been summoned to were normal. Beyond the fact that Hondas accidental presence made any duel strange, all of the low-level monsters looked sick. Even the stone warrior seemed frail.

This was bad for many reasons. First it meant that whatever the disease was, it had spread. Second, the sickness had started to affect the game. The attack and defense points of the monsters were dropping. Which made it harder to keep a monster on the field. Which - for those who played by the latest version of the rules - made it harder to tribute summon a high-level monster. Which was a shame. Because the kids playing the game, they didn't speak Japanese.

Honda spoke Japanese fluently and could say a handful of words in five or six other languages. Initially, despite the fact that most of the players hadn't spoken languages that Honda recognized, he'd tried to get help from the duelists. But it was as if the people couldn't even hear him. And it was such an energy drain, right now, to speak at all. So... Honda had given up on his attempts to communicate with duelists. And he wasn't sure if it would be worth the effort, to try to speaking with the monsters. Would the monsters hear him? Would they understand? Would they reply? What if the monsters were too sick to hold a conversation? Honda wanted someone to talk to. How was he supposed to figure this mess out on his own?

He watched as the small dragon shifted, going from attack position to defense position. It moved slowly and every single movement seemed to cause the dragon pain. Inwardly Honda shuddered. He didn't like the fact that these kids - and doubtless hundreds of other kids, all over the world - were still dueling. Didn't anyone notice that the monsters were not in good health? Didn't anyone care? And being around these sick creatures, it couldn't be good for him. What if he caught the disease? What if there wasn't a cure?

A magic card appeared on the opponents side of the field, hovering behind the monsters. Honda had seen this magic card before. So even though the text was printed in a language he couldn't read, he recognized the image. Polymerization! The samurai faded and so did the unhappy creature that had been hiding behind the dragon. A swirl and blur and then... Poof. Clarity. And another card that Honda recognized appeared on the field. A card that Jonouchi used all the time.

For an instant, the kids below were confused badly enough to just stare with their mouths hanging open. Because the monsters didn't usually do anything without getting orders first. And Honda was supposed to be a monster. But instead, he was a very relieved and slightly misplaced teenager. And he was hugging the opponents fusion creature.

The poor Flame Swordsman had absolutely no idea how to react to this kind of attention.

Flame Swordsman was a tall, broad shouldered and humanoid creature in full armor. In places, the armor appeared to be - but wasn't, apparently - on fire. Most everything about this muscular soldier was concealed by the armor he wore. The warriors face - if he actually had one - was hidden by a metallic mask. He carried a massive sword that gave off unnatural amounts of heat and that glowed every color of flame. The result of a legendary samurai and a fire magician being fused, Flame Swordsman was considered a decent enough monster. However most duelists didn't use the fusion monsters in their decks anymore. Duelists just couldn't be bothered. It had become so much easier, these days, to find low-level normal monsters with comparable attack and defense points.

Honda, mildly charred by the monsters energy, stood back. "Sorry." He muttered. Showing emotion had never been a strong point for Honda but he was still far too relieved to be embarrassed by what he'd just done. "Erm. It's just... Really good to see you. And... You're not sick! That's great! And..." Honda sighed, defeat lacing his tone. "You probably don't understand a single word I'm saying."

The kids below recovered from their shock. Another argument broke out. This debate was short. The opponent pointed at Flame Swordsman and yelled something. Flame Swordsman glanced down at the kids, glanced at the other monsters then shrugged and raised his massive sword.

"Wonderful." Honda grumbled cynically. "Just wonderful."

The massive sword hung in the air for a split second. A low gravely noise became words. "So it is possible." said the Flame Swordsman. And then the massive sword came down.

* * *


	6. No Rest For the Possessed

_In the Cards_

by DoraMouse

**Yay, More Notes:** Sorry for the delay in updating this story. Took me a while to get my computer back in working order.

* * *

**Part 6: No Rest For the Possessed**

Excuses were second nature for Jonouchi. He'd had a lot of practice, could make up all kinds of plausible stories and lies on short notice. Being able to make excuses was a talent that had helped Jonouchi cope with a lifetime of cranky school teachers, twisted gangsters, oppressive bullies and both of his parents during their messy divorce. However... Jonouchi knew his limits. There were certain people - just a handful - that had earned his trust and respect. And he just plain couldn't lie to these people, not even if he wanted to, not easily. It would bother him too much.

They were still at the Kame Game Shop. Yugi was upstairs, digging through his grandfathers room for books on the Ancient Egyptian language. Anzu was either pacing the kitchen or back out in the game store, speaking with Yugis mom again. The Pharaoh had refused to come inside. That left Jonouchi. He was in the office, listening to the clock tick and staring at the phone. His friends didn't realize that they'd asked him to do something impossible.

It was getting late. Hondas parents would be worried by now. Because Honda always called home when he stayed out, always. Honda had survived a short stint in a gang during middle school - and this was something that his parents still feared would return to haunt their son. So if Honda didn't come home and didn't call... Then his parents would start checking hospitals, police stations and morgues.

Jonouchi wanted to lie. He wanted to pick up the phone, dial the numbers and tell Mrs. Hiroto that everything was fine. That there was nothing to worry about. Maybe he could say that Honda had suddenly joined the soccer team or something. So after school and cram school, there had been soccer practice and that had run late... No. That wouldn't work. Hondas parents were the types of people who might actually call the school to check. Plus if Honda himself didn't call and speak to them, his parents would assume that he was injured.

More than anything else though... Jonouchi couldn't bring himself to lie to these people. The Hiroto residence was like a second home to him. Or rather, like a first home. A good stable home, complete with two nice sober parents and a dog - all of whom had welcomed him. No. Jonouchi didn't expect the Hirotos to replace his own family. He had always felt a sort of inexplicable duty to check on his own father once in a while - in spite of everything, Jonouchi didn't want to give up on the idea that perhaps one day his father might get cleaned up and back to normal - but he hadn't really lived with his father for the past three years. Jonouchi had stayed at a variety of places. The Hiroto house more than anywhere else. And he had recently asked - and allowed - Hondas parents to get a legal power of attorney over him. Just in case. So if Jonouchi was ever put into a hospital or jail or anything like that, then it would be Hondas parents who got called to make the decisions about his future.

If only the truth wasn't so strange. Then Jonouchi could just pick up the phone and tell Hondas parents the truth. But under the circumstances, the truth was out of the question. If Jonouchi tried to explain that Hondas soul had been accidentally misplaced then Mrs. Hiroto would probably accuse him of being drunk.

Jonouchi kicked at the floor and shuffled out of the office.

Where was Hondas soul? How could this have happened? What if they couldn't fix things? No. That wasn't an option. They _had_ to find a way to undo this mess. Because there was absolutely no way that Jonouchi was going to let a friend like Honda just walk out of his life without even saying goodbye.

Yugi was sitting on the staircase now, almost completely hidden from view by the haphazardly tall piles of books surrounding him. Anzu leaned on the staircase railing, the note that the Pharaoh had written earlier was clutched in her hand. Her expression made it clear that the news was not good.

" - wrote in every non-diagonal direction." Yugi was muttering from his impromptu book fortress. "So I'm not sure whether to read the note from left to right, right to left, top to bottom or bottom to top. Plus every ruling dynasty modified the alphabet. So there are noticeable variations in the Egyptian language between the generations. There are also some language differences between the rich and the poor. It's going to be a bit of a pain. We have to look for a specific royal alphabet that might have been in use for a short time three thousand years ago. And the history books are generally interested in broader subjects."

"When does your grandfather get back?" Anzu wondered.

Yugis grandfather had once traveled the world in search of a challenge. Being a game master, the stories of the shadow games had intrigued Mr. Mutou. So he had gone to the pyramids of Egypt, had walked in the forgotten tombs and had eventually collected the box containing all the pieces of the Millennium Puzzle as a souvenir of his survival. Because Mr. Mutou had visited the very same tomb that their Pharaoh had been buried in, Mr. Mutou had seen the heiroglyphs on the walls of that tomb and he had learned to translate that specific Ancient Egyptian alphabet. So logically... Yugis grandfather should be able to read anything that the Pharaoh wrote. Except that nowadays, Mr. Mutou traveled the world to attend toy industry fairs.

"Another week. And I'm not sure that he'll have a chance to check his email." Yugi closed a book. "Maybe we should visit the museum."

There was a large history museum in Domino City. Originally, the extensive collection of Ancient Egyptian artifacts had been part of a show that was only supposed to stay at the museum for two weeks. That had been three years ago. No real explanation had ever been given to the public but the contents of a certain young Pharaohs tomb - including the Pharaohs many elaborate coffins and slightly decayed mummy - were still on display.

Which was just plain creepy, in Jonouchis opinion. He had never really liked the ghost of the Pharaoh much to begin with. But after being dragged out to the museum on countless weekends to stare at all the disentegrating skeletons pulled from the tomb... It was too much. Too surreal. How were you supposed to feel about someone when their bones were tied up under glass for tourists to gawk at? Honestly, as far as Jonouchi was concerned, the Pharaoh was about half a step away from being a zombie. And Jonouchi hated zombies.

"You can go to the museum." grumbled Jonouchi, moving towards the exit. "I'm going to find Bakura. We need the Millenium Ring. And then maybe I'll go back to that arcade. Didn't you say that the people working there noticed a glitch in the dueling system?"

Anzu began to point out that both the arcade and the museum would be closed by now, they would have to visit those places after school tomorrow. Yugi tried to remember what the arcade staff had told him - for some reason, it wasn't clear in his mind anymore. And Jonouchi had made a decision. So he kept walking. Neither of his friends followed him but that was because they probably didn't realize that he still intended to go and get things done. The sound of the clock ticking in the office was abnormally loud to Jonouchis ears, it seemed to drown out everything else and the significance weighed heavily on him. Every moment that slipped by... Was another moment that Honda was lost. Another moment of worry for Hondas parents. Jonouchi could not just stand idly by and wait for things to be solved. What if his friend was in danger? What if every second counted? They'd lost so much time already.

So he would do exactly as he'd said. He would find Bakura and then, if needed, return to the arcade to look for clues. Yes. That was the plan. _But first..._

Yugis backpack was on a chair by the kitchen door. Jonouchi took the Millenium Puzzle out of it. He hesitated, feeling a twinge of guilt for not asking permission, then slipped the chain over his neck. This had to be the right thing to do. After all - Yugi had already refused to check the Puzzle. And it wouldn't do any good to ask the Pharaoh, since he no longer understood Japanese.

_Honda, you in here?_ Jonouchi cupped the pyramid-shaped pendant in both his hands and frowned down at the eye design carved onto the front. Waiting for a reply.

Nothing happened.

Jonouchi wasn't sure what he'd really expected. Disappointed, he began to take the Puzzle off. Then something stirred. Just a sort of vague hazy mental presence in the back of his mind. It was enough to give Jonouchi goosebumps. There was definitely something inside the Puzzle. And...

Everything happened so fast after that. Almost a blur. The Pharaoh, eyes wide - did he still have some connection to the Puzzle? - had come bursting into the kitchen and had promptly attacked. Jonouchi had blocked the attack. Then the mental presence in the back of Jonouchis mind had twitched into action. A flurry of punches and broken furniture. Yelling and footsteps on the stairs as everyone else in the house came to see what the noise was. Blood. Not much of it, Jonouchi hoped, and not his. Then running. Outside. Darkness. Smog and narrow streets and a thick blanket of silence.

* * *

Like most people who've had to grow up avoiding bullies and bullets, Yugi was fast when he needed to be. But in this particular instance... Anzu was faster. Before he could even take a step to run after Jonouchi, she'd grabbed his arm and pulled him backwards so hard that it was all Yugi could do to keep his balance.

"Listen."

Yugi spent a few seconds very confused. What was he supposed to be hearing? He was aware of his heart pounding but Anzu couldn't mean that. There was some faint traffic noise from the highway and indoors his mother was gasping at the sight of their kitchen. But beyond that... He shot Anzu a questioning look.

"His feet aren't hitting the pavement." Anzu released Yugis arm and glared bitterly at Jonouchis retreating form. "That idiot must have put the Millenium Puzzle on. He's possessed and he's levitating. We'd hear the footfalls otherwise." She stomped a few paces to demonstrate and managed to casually trip the Pharaoh as she went back inside. "We need to stick together." Anzu said as she pulled on her coat and slung her bag over her shoulder.

Yugi agreed. He felt moderately awful for leaving his mother behind to clean up the mess without even trying to explain anything to her - but this was not the time. Yugi mumbled some apologies as he snatched up his backpack and then they were gone. Walking quickly. The bus was still running but Domino City had a curfew. Nobody under the age of twenty was supposed to be out at this time of night. Especially not on a school night.

The good thing about walking at night was that landmarks and road signs weren't as visible, so Yugi was forced to pay more attention to where he was going. He was glad for this. It was a nice break, to focus on walking instead of worrying about everything. Still. Some of the more troublesome issues managed to parade through his mind.

Why hadn't Jonouchi told anyone that he was going to put the Millenium Puzzle on? Where had Jonouchi run off to? What if they couldn't find him? What was he possessed by? Would Jonouchi recognize and remember them anymore? And what about the Pharaoh? If the Pharaoh could forget Japanese then what else might he forget? Would the Pharaoh start to become afraid of modern technology? Was his brain reverting to Ancient Egypt mode now that he didn't have a host to borrow knowledge from? What had happened to Hondas soul? What had happened to the strange toaster?

_Why can't I recall what kind of glitch the people saw at the arcade?_ Yugi concentrated on this thought for a while. He had the feeling it was important. If there was a glitch in the dueling system... Maybe it would help to make sense of the situation. And maybe the glitch could be fixed. Maybe everything could be fixed. It would be nice, if the solution was so simple for once. Not likely, of course - but nice.

He glanced behind them. Deep down Yugi was half expecting - maybe even half wishing - to see his mother, following them on her bicycle and furiously demanding some answers. Yugi loved his mother but she had been rather quiet about the kitchen and it was always a little scary when she got quiet. This was the lady who regularly smacked him on the head with some blunt household object in order to get his attention. She wasn't truly mean or anything, just very stubborn and accustomed to standing up for herself. Yugi was old enough to realize that his mother was unique. Single working mothers were not commonplace in Domino City. His mom had to put up with a lot of cruel gossip and stereotyping, which made being around her sort of awkward sometimes.

Nobody was following them. No bicycles. No furious shouting. Yugi sighed. Yea, he loved his mom. But he was secretly hoping that his mother wouldn't be at home when he next returned there - because he had no idea what to say to her.

Truthfully, Yugi didn't know what to say to anyone right now. The Pharaoh, half hidden in shadow, was walking with his fists clenched. His hair was ruffled, his face a scowl. Both of his long jacket sleeves were torn from the fight and his arms - well, Hondas arms - were smeared with trickles of blood that had already started to dry and congeal. On the other side of Yugi, Anzu was angry. It showed. Yugi had noticed, over the years, that Anzu was at her most graceful when she was upset. There was something about anger that made her forget to be nervous and protective. When she didn't give any second thoughts to what she was doing... It was almost supernatural, the way she could move. Maybe one day she would learn to radiate this kind of confidence without being angry.

Yugi walked with his head down. There were moments in his life - and this was one of them - where he felt out of place. He was walking between two friends, friends who had been through all kinds of adventures with him over the past few years... But it was always kind of a surprise for Yugi to realize that he didn't know his friends all that well. That there was so much more to them than what he'd seen. Because he couldn't guess what either of them were thinking.

He wasn't even completely sure about where they were going. Jonouchi had been out of sight for a while, so they couldn't be tracking him anymore. Maybe they were headed towards the museum? No. That was the other way, wasn't it? The group crossed another street and an apartment complex came into view. Yugi began to recognize the area. He'd never been here at night before but this had to be...

"Aha! Just as I expected!" Anzu pointed. And the Pharaoh, who didn't need to understand the words to see what she pointing at, darted off. A struggle ensued and then Pharaoh returned, dragging a reluctant prisoner with him.

"Bakura?" Yugi blinked at the sight. "Uhm..."

"It's a _costume_." Bakura said defensively, wrenching away from the Pharaoh with a glare. "There's an anime convention near my home town. I was going to meet some friends there tomorrow and I didn't want to get changed on the train. Okay?"

Typically Bakura wore his school uniform. Outside of school, he was most frequently seen in dark jeans and a long-sleeved white shirt with wide navy blue stripes. So it was a bit strange, to see him dressed up like this. He wore a gray shirt under a dark red tunic, dark red pants and sandals instead of regular tennis shoes. In addition to the Millenium Ring, a necklace of big round beads hung around his neck. An abnormally huge plastic sabre hung from his hip. And...

"Here. You dropped these." Anzu picked up a headband that had fake grey cat-style ears on it. She glanced at the tag hanging from the headband. "What is Inuyasha?"

"I don't know." Bakura grumpily reclaimed the headband and, for lack of better things to do with it, put it on his head. "My friends sent me this outfit. Guess I might look like one of the characters."

"Oh." Anzu sounded as if she couldn't decide whether to laugh at Bakura or to clobber him.

"Erm. Bakura, we need - " Yugi began.

Bakura held up a hand, palm flat. His tone was polite but firm. "Don't. Just don't even ask, all right? This vacation is important to me. I haven't seen my family in over three years now. And the last time I saw my friends - the ones who sent me this costume - they were being taken away in ambulances because of what the Thief had done to them." Bakura retrieved his luggage from the sidewalk as he spoke then paused to face Yugi. "Look - I'm grateful for everything. I never expected to have any friends in this city but you guys changed that for me. So thank you. But I need to go home for a bit. I'll be back in a couple weeks. Please understand."

After a moment of considering what had been said, Yugi nodded. "We're not going to ask you stay, Bakura. But we do need to borrow the Millenium - "

"This. Thanks!" Anzu had crept up behind Bakura and seized the Millenium Ring. With a tug and a snap, the Ring came off.

Bakura immediately collapsed, face down on the pavement. He lay there without moving or making a sound. He didn't even appear to be breathing.

Anzu, Yugi and the Pharaoh exchanged baffled looks.

"He... He's not dead, is he?" Anzu stammered, turning pale. "I didn't mean to kill him! I just..."

The Pharaoh took the Millenium Ring, knelt down and held the artifact against the back of Bakuras neck. Bakura flinched, started coughing and gingerly propped himself up on his elbows as he tried to catch his breath. Yugi understood. "Your soul is trapped in the Ring now, isn't it Ryo?"

Bakura replied to this by reaching for the Millenium Ring and repairing its cord with shaking hands, so that the Ring hung around his neck once more. "Don't EVER do that again." He choked.

"You can't go home like this!" blurted Anzu as comprehension struck. "If anyone takes the Ring from you now, your physical body will die! Bakura! What if your friends back home remember the Ring? You must have been wearing the Ring the last time any of them saw you - that's how the Thief got to them, right?"

"I'm going. You can't talk me out of it." Bakura rolled to his feet. "I've already made the arrangements. I'll just have to be extra care - "

Tug. Snap. Bakura collapsed again but this time Yugi and Anzu each reacted in time to catch him before he hit the ground. They watched, stunned to silence, as the Pharaoh repaired the Millenium Rings cord and slipped the artifact on.

"There." The Pharaoh said - he was speaking Japanese again. He flicked a glance at them and then started to walk away. "Come on, I have an idea."

Horror was a vast understatement. Yugi did not want to believe what he'd just seen. This could not be his friend. His friend would never... Yugi closed his eyes. He knew better. The Pharaoh was capable of this. How many times, in the past three years, had the Pharaoh casually staked Yugis life on a game? How many times had the Pharaoh cursed an opponent? So many times. The only reason that the Pharaoh hadn't, as far as Yugi knew, killed anyone yet was because Yugis soul had managed - just barely, in some cases - to prevent him from going that far.

And now the Pharaoh was walking away, like he had all the authority in the world. As if nobody had the right to question him. As if nothing could stop him.

Yugi respected and admired the Pharaoh, most of the time. But how could he respect someone, when they were being so inconsiderate? The Pharaohs ghost was trapped in Hondas physical body and was leeching knowledge from Bakuras soul. And he was acting as if it were perfectly acceptable, to disrupt everyone elses life for his own benefit. It was an outrage.

"No." Yugi could not keep his temper out of his voice. "This is wrong. If you value our friendship at all then you will return the Millenium Ring to Bakura. _Now._"

The Pharaoh stopped and looked down at him. Yugi wasn't sure how long they stood there, scowling at each other. All he knew was that it seemed like an eternity. And then, abruptly, Bakura was a lot heavier. The reason for this soon became clear: Yugi alone was now struggling to support Bakuras weight. Anzu was standing in front of him, her back filled his vision.

"What are you waiting for?" Anzus voice trembled. She advanced on the Pharaoh - since she was about as tall as Honda, she was able to get in his face a bit. "Don't you value our friendship?" She hesitated, clearly hoping for an answer. However when the pause stretched a bit long, Anzu nervously filled it. "It'll be bad enough, if we're caught out after dark on a school night." She said, speaking quickly as if that might hide the blend of sadness and anger that now tainted her every word. "But if anyone sees Bakura like this... Do you want us to be accused of murder?"

"I have an _idea_." The Pharaoh repeated, frustration creeping into his features.

Yugi cleared his throat to gain their attention. "You're not the only one with ideas." He stated, more calm now. "And my idea doesn't involve forcing anyone to risk their life. So please..."

There was an uncertain moment. Would the Pharaoh give the Millenium Ring back? Or would he just walk away? The Pharaoh had always been a lot better at giving orders than taking them. An internal struggle seemed to take place. Yugi watched and tried to guess what the decision would be. He didn't know what he would do, if the Pharaoh left.

"A duel." The Pharaoh narrowed his eyes, his expression slightly glazed. "Bakura wants to duel me. For the Ring. And his soul."

"This is insane." Anzu remarked.

She was right, in Yugis opinion. Bakura was in no shape to duel. And the Pharaoh didn't, technically, have his own deck. The cards that the Pharaoh had always used before, those belonged to Yugi. And Yugi had put three years worth of work into his deck. True - he'd inherited the bulk of his cards from his grandfather. But he'd bought, earned and traded for the rest. The cards meant a lot to him. So, no, Yugi was not about to lend his precious deck to anyone - not even the Pharaoh - and especially not for a shadow game against one of his own friends. Besides, the monsters in the cards were probably still sick. And there was just so much else to worry about right now...

Before Yugi could put these sentiments into words, the Pharaoh had opened and searched through one of Bakuras suitcases. He extracted a small metallic box from the suitcase, scowled and pried the lid off. Since it was dark outside, the contents were not immediately visible. A rectangular slip of paper fluttered to the sidewalk. The faint amount of light from the surrounding buildings reflected off a plastic surface. It took Yugi less than a second to realize that these were cards in protective plastic holders but it was only after he'd squinted that he realized something else. The box contained two separate decks.

* * *


	7. The Ties That Bind

_In the Cards_

by DoraMouse

* * *

**Part 7: The Ties That Bind..**

The apartment was modest. Nothing too fancy. One medium sized rectangular room with white walls, multiple closets and a separate bathroom off to the left. The sofa could fold out into a bed and the only other large piece of furniture in the place was a heavy wooden table with a 3D roleplaying map mounted across its surface. A note pinned near the front door indicated that apartment residents were welcome to check their mail in the foyer, use the shared kitchen space on the ground floor and could find a laundromat in the basement of the building. Another note listed all the rules, including which days to put trash out.

Anzu was reading these notes. Once she'd finished, she strolled around politely inspecting the contents of the apartment. Poking at a cluster of houseplants. Browsing through the titles on a crooked bookshelf. Anzu was just basically trying to ignore her friends. Which was hard to do, since they were all in the same room. But she really didn't want any part of this silliness. Anzu was tired, she'd had a long day full of strange happenings and it was truly all she could to just keep quiet. She was half tempted to voice her disapproval and lecture her friends for the way they were behaving. She was even more tempted to leave and slam the door behind her. Because the place made her uncomfortable. The last time Anzu had visited this apartment... She shivered at the memory. The Thief had managed to trap her soul - and also the souls of Jonouchi, Honda, Bakura and even Yugi - in a roleplaying game. She'd almost died here.

The roleplaying table sat to one side, pushed up against a wall and seeming perfectly harmless. Anzu cast a sideways glance at the thing and shivered again. She would never quite forget the feeling she'd had back then, her soul trapped in a miniature figurine, as she'd looked up to see her own physical body slumped lifeless at the edge of that table.

Not a pleasant memory. Anzu redirected her attention, focusing on a colorful poster that hung beside a closet door. Apartments were not cheap in Domino City. She'd always sort of wondered how Bakura could afford to live here. He'd never mentioned having a job and he certainly didn't appear to have any wealthy roommates. Maybe his family sent him the money for rent? Or maybe the owners of the apartment were friends of Bakuras family and some sort of deal had been worked out.

"Your turn." Bakuras voice echoed in the apartment. He'd been allowed to regain his body for the duel. And he was rapidly proving how wrong it was to assume that he was a pushover. Much as Bakura hated to be perceived as mean or dangerous... The simple truth was that he hadn't survived living with the ghost of a devious Thief for more than three years by being nice all the time.

For better or worse, the low level monsters were still sick. Their attack and defense points had dropped to zero. The effect monsters were so weak that they'd lost their effects - a saving grace for the Pharaoh since Bakura was using a deck that relied on effect combinations. It was, in essence, not truly a duel anymore. It was more of a race. The winner would have to either summon a high level monster, wait for their opponent to run out of cards or do enough lifepoint damage with spell and trap cards to end the game.

Outside it was dark and inside it was bright, which meant that the windows of the apartment now also functioned as mirrors. Anzu didn't want to see the duel. It was stupid and childish - there had to be a better way to solve problems. Why drag all the poor monsters into this? And she hated it when people went around betting their souls on games. And yet... She couldn't help it, her eyes wandered to the windows. Anzu was able to see the reflection of the apartment there, able to see what was going on behind her without turning. She worried about her friends. The Pharaoh, in particular. How long did they have left, until he forgot Japanese again? And what if he forgot more than just the language this time? Maybe he would forget how to duel. Maybe he would forget who his friends were. Or maybe he was already forgetting...

Anzu folded her arms, her expression taunt as she did her best to pretend that she wasn't watching the game.

On the other side of the room, the Pharaoh drew a card. "Finally." He flicked the card around to show Bakura. "I activate Sword of the Deep Seated. I'll attach it to Master Kyonshee."

The monster, a zombified martial arts teacher, twitched slightly but its attack and defense points remained at zero. Apparently the disease negated any effect that equip cards would have regularly had on the monster. So the only thing that the equip card had really done was fill a space on the Pharaohs side of the field. Now instead of having room for five regular spell or trap cards, he only had room for four.

Irritated, the Pharaoh ordered an attack. He must have expected the monster to eliminate itself as well as its target, since both monsters had the same number of attack points. But because that number was zero... The monster just twitched again. It couldn't attack.

Anzu watched the reflection of Yugi for a moment. She noticed that Yugi was also pretending to pay no attention to the duel. It was obvious that Yugi didn't approve of any of this. But once Bakura had bet his own soul on the game, the whole thing had become a matter of life and death and honor. The Pharaoh could not ignore such challenges.

Bakura set some cards down. He seemed to have a plan. All of his monsters were cringing in defense position while four face-down cards hovered behind the virtual battleground. Traps, perhaps. Or spell cards. Bakura checked the contents of his hand, nodded and ended his turn. Yes. He was definitely up to something. Or was it just an act? Maybe Bakura only wanted to get the Pharaoh nervous and force him to make some mistakes. Although the Pharaoh was anxious enough already, all things considered.

"You're bluffing." The Pharaoh grumbled, his voice tainted with a strange accent that had to be Egyptian. "I see what you're up to. So I'll summon out - "

Before the words had left him, his hand was in motion. An automatic reflex. He put the card on the duelist disk and summoned a monster to the field. Except... This time... The faint holograph that materialized... Wasn't a monster.

"Honda!" Anzu spun around. Her shout startled everyone since they'd all believed that her attention had been elsewhere, not on the duel. "Honda! Hey..." The excitement fell from her voice. "What's wrong with him? It's like he doesn't even see us."

"Uhm, I activate the trap - "

"WHAT?" Anzu crossed the room in two dancing steps and interrupted Bakura. "You can't be serious!"

"I am serious." Bakura inched backwards to get out of Anzus striking range. "I can't lose this game. I bet my soul. If you don't want me to do _this_" Bakura tapped the trap card for emphasis, "then _he_" - Bakura nodded towards the Pharaoh - "will have to forfeit. Otherwise I activate the trap..."

The Pharaoh folded his arms and gave the clear impression that using the word 'forfeit' in his presence was a personal insult. Yugi - once he'd recovered from the initial shock of the scene - sidestepped closer to his counterpart, trying to get a good look at the card that had managed to summon Honda.

"Bakura, this is ridiculous!" exclaimed Anzu.

A note of panic carried in Bakuras voice. "It is NOT ridiculous! I'd like to keep my soul, thank you very much! Is he giving up or can I activate this trap now?"

The Pharaoh started to protest but two glares silenced him. "Fine. He forfeits." Anzu said, hoping that the Pharaoh would forgive her. She hated to be so rude - to take over the game, more or less - but this had to stop. Okay, so Bakura had voluntarily bet his own soul. And the Pharaoh had matched that bet. Anzu had never approved of people betting their lives on games - life was worth so much more - but she'd reluctantly let them have their way. She refused, however, to let Hondas soul be endangered right now. It went against all her protective instincts. Because it wasn't fair. This game hadn't been Hondas choice so why should he have to suffer the consequences? "Just don't attack."

"Why should I attack? If he gives up then this duel is over." Bakura smiled with relief and switched off his duelist disk. The monsters vanished. So did Honda. "I win."

Bakura spent the next several moments hysterically fleeing for his life. After he'd barricaded himself into a closet so that neither the Pharaoh nor Anzu could immediately strangle him, he eventually caught his breath and found the courage to speak. "Okay. That was a mean trick. And I'm sorry for making Hondas soul vanish, I honestly didn't even know that he was in the cards. You can explain that later." Bakura sighed, his voice hesitant. "Uhm. In the meantime, I did win - all right? And I'd like to... Erm. Collect."

Anzu might have exploded with anger again except that she noticed the Pharaoh had gone the color of the wall. Actually, next to the Pharaoh the wall was starting to look a dusty faded yellow.

Yugi had noticed too. He chose his words with care. "Bakura? What do you mean, collect?"

"The Pharaoh bet his soul." Bakura opened the closet door a crack and peered out at them with a timid expression that begged for their patience. "Please, I hate to do this. I really do. But... If I could just collect the Pharaohs soul, please."

Yugi was somewhere between horrified and bewildered. "Why? And how could you possibly...?"

There was an earsplitting silence for a few minutes and then Bakura ventured halfway out of the closet, holding his duelist disk in front of him as if it were a shield. "Ah. Yugi? Didn't anyone ever tell you about the binding magic? Didn't _he_..." Bakura nodded towards the Pharaoh and let question trail off. The Pharaohs expression was enough of an answer.

"Binding magic?"? Yugi repeated, positively clueless.

"Oh dear." Bakura shook his head, disappointed. "I'm sorry. Thought you would have known by now." He faced the Pharaoh, who had retreated until he was backed against the nearest wall, and narrowed his eyes. Without words Bakura conveyed the idea that this was the Pharaohs absolute last chance to explain. Because if the Pharaoh didn't talk, Bakura would.

The Pharaoh chose to stare at the floor.

Bakura didn't take his eyes off the Pharaoh but decided to clear up the confusion. "Yugi, you solved the Millennium Puzzle. So the Pharaoh became capable of possessing you. But there were conditions. The Pharaoh could only possess you - not anyone else. And he couldn't even possess you, if you didn't have the Millennium Puzzle. And it was easier for him to get control if you were in some kind of danger. That's how it's been for you these past three years, correct?"

"Right." The conversation was awkward but Yugi did his best to sound casual. "Has it been the same way for you and the Thief?"

"Yes." Bakura nodded. "And those conditions - that's the basic binding magic. The spells that keep the Pharaohs soul attached to the Millennium Puzzle and the Thiefs soul attached to the Millennium Ring. Or at least, they used to."

Anzu blinked. She remembered what her friends had told her about the artifacts glowing and the flash of light. "You mean that what happened at the arcade today was _magic_?"

"I'm not sure." Bakura ducked his head and rested one hand on the back of his neck, a gesture of mild embarrassment. "There are gaps in my memory. I can't vouch for anything that happened at the arcade. But I do that know there's another level of binding magic, a sort of advanced curse. I'm not sure if it was on the Millennium Puzzle but..." Bakura sighed and fidgeted with the Millennium Ring. "The Thief has tried to break the advanced binding magic before. Guess he finally succeeded. It's the only solution I can think of that makes sense right now."

Yugi and Anzu said nothing, waiting for either Bakura or the Pharaoh to finish answering all the obvious questions.

The Pharaoh continued to scowl rigidly at the floor. When the silence had dragged on to the point of being extremely worrisome, he leaned against the wall and said. "So the Thief is out. Is that your true reason for suddenly want to go home?"

Bakuras expression darkened. "It's not my only reason but, yes - that is certainly a concern."

Anzu was beginning to understand. The Thief was not in the Millennium Ring and he was not, apparently, in the Millennium Puzzle. They had no idea where the Thief was. Which, Anzu flinched at the realization, meant that they had no idea who or what the Thief was currently possessing. He could have taken control of almost anyone by now. And he was out there, somewhere. And the Thief had always wanted to kill the Pharaoh. And... He had spent the last three or so years possessing Bakura. So the Thief knew everything and everyone that Bakura knew. The Thief knew where each of them lived. He knew all their favorite hangouts. He knew where they went to school. He knew their class schedules. And they wouldn't even recognize him now.

Oh, this was bad. Very _very_ bad.

"The theory is that in order for one soul to get completely out of an artifact, another soul has to go in. It's all about balance - do you understand? A soul exchange. That's the advanced binding magic." Bakura was speaking directly to the Pharaoh now. "So I'd like to collect your soul, please, because if your soul goes into Millennium Ring then my soul can get out."

"I'm aware of that." The Pharaohs voice was flat. He had spent more than three thousand years trapped in the Millennium Puzzle and less than one day trapped in Hondas physical body. Strange and stressful as it likely was, to suddenly be more than just an ancient ghost in a modern world... The idea of sending his own soul into the Millennium Ring was clearly far less than thrilling. The Pharaoh didn't seem at all inclined to give up his recently gained freedom. And there was something else as well, another sort of hesitation in his behavior. Like someone caught off guard.

Bakura waited a few tense seconds then, unwilling to let the subject drop, spoke. His voice was a blend of hope and desperation. "Upon your honor as a duelist, I ask that you cast the spell for a soul exchange. Please place your soul into the Millennium Ring."

Another pause full of nervous energy.

"My honor as a duelist," The Pharaoh said carefully so that his words would not be distorted by the emotions that seemed to bring out his accent at full force. "requires me to remind you that you are not the only one whose memory has gaps. So while I am aware of the type of magic you've mentioned, Bakura, I can't recall having ever used it before. If you demand that I cast the spell, I will try. But with this kind of magic... Even under the best possible conditions, there would be risks. And we do not have the best possible conditions."

Bakura accepted this news with a certain amount of resignation. "Death would be one of those risks, I suppose?"

The Pharaoh managed a weak smile. Not a happy expression but the sort of haunted cynical smile that someone tends to get when they know just exactly how much trouble they are in. "Death is the least of our problems."

It would have been a rather dramatic moment, if Anzu hadn't snapped. "That's it! Enough!" She shouted, grabbing the Pharaoh with one arm and Yugi with the other as she plowed towards the door. "We're leaving!"

"But what about..."

"What, you want to end up with your soul accidentally sealed into a piece of furniture or something?"

"No! But..."

"You want to end up stuck in my body?" There. That did it. Anzu watched her startled friends turn about 30 shades of embarrassed pink, red and purple. Yea - she was a girl. That was painfully obvious. But to her friends... Most of the time she was just a friend, just a member of the group - just Anzu. The boys didn't seem to think of her in terms of gender, which was fine. But when she had to... Anzu could strike a pose and run her hand through her hair and remind them that she was not just some floating disembodied brain with a friendly voice. She had a body too - a dancers figure, full of muscles and curves.

For about two seconds - while a vein pulsed in her forehead - Anzu had the urge to scream 'perverts!', slap all of them and stomp out. But for the most part, her ferocious leering was only skin deep. Anzu knew that she'd laugh about this later, in private - the boys expressions were priceless. The Pharaoh, even with his eyes closed, radiated the attitude of a deer caught in the path of an oncoming train. Meanwhile Yugi appeared to be struggling with the impulse to have a nosebleed. It was kind of fun to tease them. _What I wouldn't give for a camera..._

Bakura, who was almost as red as the robes of his costume, coughed a few times and found his voice again though it was now nearly half an octave higher. "Uhm. Can I at least have my cards back?" He pointed at the deck that the Pharaoh had borrowed.

"No." Anzu said sweetly. "Because we need to work together to fix everything. You want your soul out of the Millennium Ring? Well we have to find Jonouchi, make sure that he's all right and also get Hondas soul out of your cards. So you help us, we'll help you - got it? And it would be good if we could figure out where the Thief is before he shows up and tries to kill us all. Mmmkay?" Before Bakura could think of some counter argument, Anzu leaned forward and added the ultimate threat. "Don't make me call your fanclub."

* * *

Monsters. Twitching bodies sprawled across the virtual battleground. This was all that Honda was aware of. Monsters and more monsters and they weren't all in the same place but he saw them anyway - just some more clearly than others. It was sort of hard to explain. It was... As if he were, somehow, aware of more than one duel at once. The main duel... Honda didn't know why it was the one that demanded his attention the most, he just knew that all the other duels that he was aware of seemed sort of distant and faint to his senses. But the main duel was... Kind of scary.

_I don't want to do this... No! Don't make me... Argh! Get off!_

Unlike many of the creatures on the field, Honda had attack and defense points. Which meant that he was capable of sending the sick monsters straight to the graveyard. Which didn't seem fair or honorable or anything. So far, Honda had refused to attack. But now...

The opponent had summoned a ritual ... thing. Monster didn't seem like the right word. Because what the kid had summoned was an empty suit of armor. At first, Honda hadn't been worried. Why worry? What could an empty suit of armor do? Creak? But then the armor had revealed a sinister ability. It was, even now, closing in on Honda. Attaching to him. Absorbing his attack power. Dragging him to the opponents side of the field. Honda couldn't avoid the armor - there wasn't anywhere to go, he was trapped. And it was too much of energy drain to struggle. Still, Honda managed to grit his teeth and proceeded to vehemently curse at the armor in every language he knew.

Relinquished. That's what the armor was called. Where had he heard that name before? Honda wasn't sure.

A turn went by. It seemed to go very slowly. Honda hated the feeling. Hated looking across the field, at the helpless monsters, knowing that in a moment he would be forced to destroy one of them. Which one? No, it didn't matter. These creatures had no way of defending themselves. Honda didn't want to destroy any of them.

Very far away, a hazy something flicked through Hondas mind. Something familiar. What had that been? Perhaps he'd just imagined it.

A target had been selected. The armor pivoted. Honda went with it.

_"-wrong with him? It's like-"_

The snatch of sound - a voice, so very far away - reached Hondas mind. He blinked. How strange. Was someone, somewhere talking about _him_? But he was just a monster. Why would any of duelists talk about him as if he were something more? Honda wanted to ask but why bother? Conversation was impossible. The duelists couldn't hear him. It had always been that way, always. Wait. _Always?_

His memory was as foggy as the rest of his mind. Because it was hard to think clearly when your energy was split into so many pieces, so far apart. Honda had been reduced to living in the moment - the past, even the recent past, was fading from him. Hadn't he always been a monster? How could he have ever been anything else? Honda didn't know and he didn't have the energy to speculate.

The armor landed a punch. It wasn't even a terribly strong attack. But the target dissolved. To the duelists below, that's how it looked. The armor barely had to touch the poor warrior and then the image of the warrior shattered into a hundred thousand shiny little squares that disappeared after about two seconds. No blood. No gore. Just 3D holographic confetti. But then again, the kids playing the game couldn't hear the monsters. So of course, the duelists didn't hear the warriors dying scream. Chilling would have been an understatement. The sound left no doubt that a murder had just been committed and the pained echoes of the scream lingered long after the actual card had been sent to the graveyard.

_"-can't be serious!"_

There it was again, a snatch of sound. Distant but familiar. Honda tried to concentrate on the voice. Anything to get away from this duel - he didn't want to be a murderer. But the connection was so faint and then... Darkness. Emptiness. The connection was gone.

Below, there was laughter. The child that had summoned Relinquished was gloating, sure of victory. Because the kid that had summoned Honda originally now only had one monster left on the field. A sick monster, with zero attack and defense. And...

The kid drew a card and smiled. The sick monster vanished. Swirl. Blur. Poof. Clarity.

A young woman appeared on the field. Pale skin, long spikes of golden hair, an outfit of bright blue and pink. She was a little bit taller than Honda and appeared to be only a few years older. Her eyes sparkled with a mystical energy. So did her fingertips. And her wooden staff. She grinned and held one hand up to her forehead, saluting the world with a peace sign.

Honda knew that he'd seen this creature before. However since his mind was sort of being ripped to shreds by all the demands placed upon it, he couldn't remember where or when or how. Nevermind having any real ideas about who this lady was. All that Honda knew for certain was that this lady could kill him. Because she had 2000 attack points and he only had 1300.

Dark Magician Girl ignored the kid that had summoned her, who was now shouting orders and pointing. Instead she rested a hand on her hip and frowned, squinting slightly in Hondas direction. "You must be one of the new monsters." said Dark Magician Girl. She didn't sound impressed. She tilted her head to one side. "Are you really a Fiend?"

The problem with Honda was simple: he was a seventeen year old boy. And when a seventeen year old boy sees a full grown woman in what is, basically, a cheerleadering outfit - short skirt, tight top - well... Automatic shyness kicked in. Honda had no problem with admiring women from a distance but he had never in his life gotten up the courage to speak to any of the girls that he'd developed feelings for in school. And so to be faced with Dark Magician Girl, of all things... Even with his soul spread thin, Honda found just enough energy to be tongue tied.

Without waiting for orders - or even for its own turn - Relinquished dragged Honda into defense position. This caused the kids below to argue.

"Oh..." Dark Magician Girl stepped forward and poked at Honda with the top of her staff. "Oh, I see. Interesting. So it IS possible. Hrm." She stepped back, twirling her staff between her fingers. Her eyes glittering more intensely. "Well if a _fiend_ can do it..."

"Do _what_?" Honda finally managed, only a tiny bit more confused by the return of his own emotions than by anything else.

"Escape." Dark Magician Girl was now surrounded by an immense sparkling aura. She raised her voice and announced the next part, as if it were an attack. "SOUL EXCHANGE!"

For one amazing split second, the sparkling aura expanded outward and took the shape of a large sharp arrow that was racing directly towards one of the children below. But then... Just as fast... The arrow evaporated. The flow of energy reversed. And the sparkling aura exploded around Dark Magician Girl. She wobbled, her expression full of surprise, then dropped to her knees.

"_h-how_?" She stammered, leaning against her staff, her face a study in pain. "I don't understand... That should have worked."

"I don't think you can attack the duelists. Besides... They're boys. You're... uhm... not." Honda suggested with as much of a shrug as Relinquished would allow.

Dark Magician Girl snorted in disgust. "Three thousand years ago, I might have cared." She pulled herself to her feet and inspected Honda once more. Anger made her voice shrill. The mere notion that some random low level fiend had completed a spell that she, an advanced spellcaster, could not perform was irritating - to say the very least. "My magic does not care about a creatures gender. That spell _should have worked_. I should be free! Why..."

Relinquished stirred. An ancient hollow voice spoke through Honda. "Forget not the rules. The good chef must eat of his own cooking - but the good doctor does not operate on himself."

A pause and then... "And the wise magician knows better than to place spells upon herself. For who will be left to undo the damage, if any mistake is made?" Dark Magician Girl sighed. Now she sounded weary, resigned. Heartbroken. Like someone who'd been on the verge of having their dream come true before waking up to cold cruel reality. "Ah. Of course. The binding curse."

Honda recovered from the disturbing sensation of being spoken through. "Curse?" He blurted out. "Hey... Wait - is that what's making everyone sick?"

Dark Magician Girl took a deep breath and straightened up. "I do not know what has made the low levels sick. I no longer wish to know. I only wish to escape." Her face was hidden by shadow; her whole attitude had gone grim. "In the meantime - " She flicked a glare at the arguing children below then hefted her staff. " - the show must go on."

"No! Wait!" Honda tried to find the coordination to get out of the way but Relinquished held him firmly in place. "If you attack me, this armor will just possess you next and then..."

The attack resembled a dark fireball. Honda was released into the path of it, too late to do anything but watch. A moment of dazzling darkness, a moment of nauseating dizziness and the duel faded. Only to be replaced by... Another duel.

Far away, on some splintered edge of Hondas consciousness, he heard someone say. _"-this card? Try again!"_

That voice again. That same distant voice. Someone, somewhere had talked about him as if he were more than just a monster. Someone was looking for him. _Don't give up._ Honda thought at the voice with all the strength he could muster as he prepared to face another depressing battle against a bunch of weakened creatures. _Please don't give up. I can hear you, whoever you are._

* * *


End file.
